Where the Truth lies
by leuska
Summary: Daniel made a mistake, and there is always a price to pay for your mistakes. But what if this time, the one paying the price would not be him? DV, angst & romance, mild SJ
1. Prologue

**Summary** – Vala has her issues, but she is adapting well into the SGC, or so Daniels thinks. Till some unexpected trouble occurs and the teams trust towards her is put to test. What´s more, in the most inappropriate moment, a mission goes totally wrong.

**Pairing** – Daniel and Vala, yet much of the rest of the team

**Spoilers** – Season 10 spoilers

**Disclaimer** – Well, obviously not owning the SG world, because if so, I would not post this story here, but publish a book itself and make loads of money. Or, if nobody was interested into reading it, well, to hell with them, I could afford to publish the book anyway! ;)

**Help – **If anybody of you ppl like this story and you would be so great and take the time to do my beta, I would..carry you on my arms! Or at least be very very very grateful. Well, no salary, lousy hours, mad boss, but hey, you get to read the new chapter first!!!;) so whoever is interested in doing betta, I would appreciate it so much, cause english is not my mother tongue, and I suck in grammar, spelling etc. So pls, is there som generous soul???

**Where the truth lies**

by: Liz Parker

Prologue

_Noises. Lots of noises. And cold. Freezing cold that gets to your bones, under your fingernails, to your very core of existence, a pricking pain that feels like stitching of hundreds of needles. And there was also pain, massive pain in her head. She struggled to open her eyes, though her eyelids were as if from steel. Somebody called her name. It was a male voice. She finally managed to open her tired eyes. It was dark. She tried to remember where she was, but she couldn't think clearly. Everything was foggy…hazy. There was a man over her, just inches away from her face, looking directly at her. She recognized it was Mitchell._

"_Hey sleeping beauty! Welcome back! You got us really scared."_

_He was smiling but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He was worried. She tried to make out her surroundings. It looked like they were in some kind of cave. She was half-sitting, half-laying against a wall, her face facing the only source of light in the room. The light came through a hole, probably the exit of the cave._

_It was only when Mitchell turned towards it, she noticed that it was partly darkened by silhueetes._

"_Guys, she's come around!" He turned back to her. The silhuettes came closer, bending over her, talking to her. Mitchell voice was yet the most clear voice of all, though as he continued to talk to her, she could hardly concentrate on what he was saying. _

"_Don't worry, everything is going to be ok. We.. I mean T, got you out on time. Now we gotta get you out of these clothes as fast as we can, ok?"_

_She didn't respond but was rather looking like she was slipping into unconsciousness again, so he coupled her cheek with his hand, gently but firmly._

"_Vala? Vala! Do you understand? We are going to take your clothes off now, ok? Nowv try to stay with us, alright?"_

_Another voice was growing impatient. "We don't have time for this Cam, we need to get her dry!" She recognized the voice at once. It belonged to Daniel, who was starting to bend over her and unziping her anorak, then carefully but quickly taking it off her. Her pullover continued short after, followed by her boots. Vala's clothes seemed so heavy to her, but she coudn't figure out why. She was so cold she couldn't help but shiver violently, her teeth chattering. She was still a bit confused, but when she suddenly felt somebody's warm fingers trace her belly in order to strip of her shirt, she winced and pushed the hands away. _

"_Vala, we really don't have time for this, now let me.."_

"_NO Daniel, you're SO not doing that!"_

_He paused for a second, looked at her as if he was going to say something to reason with her, but then he suddenly changed his mind, bit his lip and continued without hesitation. Her remark and the feeble flaping with her arms in front of her in order to stop him went almost unnoticed. At that point, she got really embarrassed and angry. ' Why the hell wouldn't he take her seriously on this?!' _

"_Stop it Daniel! Go away… I said GO AWAY!" _

"_Daniel, maybe I should do it, she may be more comfortable with that." said a quiet but strong voice from behind. Yet, Daniel didn't pay much attention to this suggestion either._

"_Vala, stop fighting! This is ridiculous, I've seen you half-naked on many occasions, none of which a chose freely by the way, so stop acting like mother virgin and let me get you out of these ice-cold clothes, dammit!"_

_At that moment, Mitchell stepped in, grabbing Daniel by the arm. " Hey Jackson, I suppose you know what it means when a lady says NO. Sam's right, leave her do it. You ok with that, Vala?"_

_She barely nodded, the enourmous effort to just stay awake written over her face. Exhaustion, nausea, an overwhelming headache,resisting Daniel and this unbearable cold took all her strengh that was left. _

"_Ok guys, she needs dry clothes, so let's see what we all can put together. I am donating the thermic blanket which the very kind and thoughfull doc Lam forced us to take along and about which I at first bitched so much about, calling it an unnecessary burden, for what I am gonna apologize for a million timesto her.. where did I stop?….ah yeah, also am donating two pairs of nice, wooly, warm socks. Sam?"_

"_She gets my shirt and undershirt."_

_Cam turned to Daniel and T'ealc. "You guys?"_

"_I will most gladly donate my anorak to Vala Mal Doran."_

"_No T, that's a very generous offer, but you can't do that, you will freeze."_

"_I will still be wearing my shirt and sweater. That is enough for me to survive in good health. Before being allowed to serve Apophis, a Jaffa needed to undergo various sorts of training, which included enduring all kinds of weather or temperature conditions. I am confident to say that when I give my Anorak to Vala Mal Doran, I will still be able to preserve optimal body temperature without suffering any medical problems. "_

_Cam gave him a 'you-will-freeze-your-butt-off' look, but didn't argue further and took the anorak from T'ealc._

"_Daniel, you're next. Let's see if ya can outrun T."_

_Without saying a word, Daniel took out his gloves, removed his cap and scarf and passed them on to Sam without a word._

"_Ok guys, now it's lady's time, so while these chicks get all dressed up for the ball, let's go outside and see how the weather is doing, ok?" _

"_A-a-and no-no.. snoo-snoo-snooping!" Vala shouted after them._

_It took them a second to figure out what she was saying, since her teeth were so heavily chattering. _

"_Promise I will hold them back." Cam gave Vala a wink and accepted the deadly glare from Daniel and as usual, a neutral expression from T'ealc, with grace._

"_Good to see you've got your temper back." Added Mitchell in a more serious manner. Sam gave him a smile and the guys left._

_Helping Vala to undress and put the dry clothes on was more challenging than Sam aticipated. Vala's limbs were stiff and she could barely move them._

"_Wh-what happ-happened Sam? I can't-can't re-re-remember what …"_

_Sam looked surprised. "You don't remember?"_

"_No…I on-only re-remember the-the..walk through-through the cou-country, the-then the fi-fight, and the-then no-nothing..."_

"_You were standing on a frozen lake, when some kind of strange weak earthquake occured. You slipped and fell down. The ice started to break and you slumped into the water."_

"_Aw…so-sorry.for-for the mess-ss..." She started to shake more violently as a cold breeze from outside brushed her bare arms. _

"_Hey, hey! Easy." Sam was quickly trying to thrust Vala's arms into the shirt._

" _It's alright. You couldn't have known. Just try to rest. We will get you home as soon as possible. I guess that this is the definite proof that you and cold hate each other."_

_Vala gave her a small smile. "I-I like….i-ice-cream." Sam chuckled. "Yeah, sure. But still, yello is better!"_

"_You-you.. wis-wish!"_

_Sam just finished putting gloves on Vala's hands. She was really worried. They were lifeless, cold as ice, and her fingertips already started turning blue. They had to get her through the gate as soon as possible. _

"_Ok, here we go. Just put this cap on and we are finished."_

"_Tha-thank you S-Sam."_

"_You're welcome." She tried to give the weak woman a reassuring, confident smile._

_As she was trying to put all of Vala's half – frozen raven hair into the cap, she unintentionally brushed over Vala's left temple. She felt the other woman flinch in pain. She pulled apart the frosty hair to have a better look and was instantly unpleasantly surprised by a big nasty-looking wound. The blood was sticky and frozen. Still, the amount that was able to spill from the wound before it had literally frozen was a very bad sigh. It got mixed into her dark hair and therefore couldn't be discovered by the others earlier. Sam mentally kicked herself. Injuries were the first thing they should have checked when they brought her here. Now it made sense why Vala was disorientated, weak and not disturbed that much about her condition. The memory loss was probably due to a concussion she may have suffered._

"_Don't wo-worry a-about that. My-my ears al-always look so-so fu-funny.." quipped Vala. She wasn't stupid, she saw the look of horror on Sam's face. Sam got slightly ashamed for staring at her like that. _

"_No, you're ears look quite normal to me…It's only that you've must have hit the ice when you slipped and fell, you are going to have a big nasty bump up there. Any headache? Nausea? Double vision?"_

"_Just..just the head-headache. It's..kill-killing me-e…Any-any good dru-drugs?"_

"_I am afraid any that could help your condition. Sorry." _

_Vala gave her a tough smile. " 's ok. Sur-survived wo-worse."_

_In that moment, there was a spoken ' knock-knock' on the imaginary cave door and the guys came in. "So? Everything set here? Aw, you really look lovely Vala, though I like you more with flowing hair, but hey, a guy can't have everything, can he?" Cam tried to lighten the atmosphere but saw that he failed as he noticed the worried look on Sam's face._

"_We've got a problem here guys.." Sam begun._

"_What is it?" Daniel's anxious voice was heard before Mitchell have had a chance to react. Sam reached into Vala's hair to show the rest of them, what got her so worried a few moments ago. They didn't see it at first, but then they noticed the dark nasty cut on Vala's temple._

"_She has a massive headache and probably a strong concussion - she doesn't remember what happened to her. Guys, this is worse than we though.." She didn't need to finish her sentence, they all knew what it meant. If they wouldn't get her home as soon as possible, she could die here.The stakes were high. _

"_Damn.."was the only thing Cam was able to get out of him. T'ealc said nothing, his expression unchanged. The look on Daniel's face was this time even more unreadable than T'ealc's. Vala shuffled uncomfortably._

"_Ok, so-so you a-all had a lo-look, now gi-gimme five bucks for-for the ss-show. E-each." They all pulled back, yet nobody laughed. The situation was much too serious._

"_Ok." Said Mitchell resolutely. "We observed the weatherThe readings on the scanner show that a heavy storm is approaching. The gate is approximately one mile into the west, the storm is coming from the east. In the deep snow and these conditions, it should take us about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the gate. By the time we arive, it may be possible the storm has broken out already. So, quesiton one – How do we find you again, cos when the storm breaks out, our comms will most likely be out and the footprints in the snow also.."_

"_We can bring a portable tracking device for our signal implantants."_

"…_which brings us to my second question Jackson, who will go with me and who will stay?"_

"_I wil go with you." Said Daniel at once._

"_Jackson, it's pretty chilly out there, besides, we don't know, if we reach the gate on time, the storm may catch us on the road and we don't know what to expect, we may get lost or unable to continue.."_

"_Still, I'll go."_

_Mitchell scratched his head. "Well, I don't want to hurt your feelings Daniel, but I was thinking more about T'ealc or Carter… "_

"_NO.Ffor the last time Cam, I'll go. Sam can help Vala with the wound and everything and T'ealc has no anorak, and I can't give him mine, or I would freeze. Besides…" Daniel sighed heavily, "…I'm not completely innocent regarding the reasons why we ended up in this mess.."_

_Cam and Sam exchanged looks._

"_Ok. Me and Jackson go to the gate, Sam and T stay with Vala. Hopefully, we'll be back in two hours. It may take time to put together a rescue time, especially under these circumstances. Ok, see ya soon."_

_Daniel crossed the cave and kneeled beside Vala._

"_We'll be back in no time. You take care of yourself and do whatever Sam tells you, ok?"_

"_We-well, sure Da-Daniel..I didn't for-forget that you-you al-always knew best..." It was not the remark itself, but her sarcastic tone that that cought him offguard. Yet, he knew he could have expected it._

"_Vala, not now please."_

"_I-I…didn't do-do it Da-Daniel."_

"_Vala, not now please. We don't have time. We will talk about this when we get you home, alright?"_

"_I want you to tell me you believe me Daniel!"_

_Exasperation but also distress was clear in her voice. He didn't answer, but before she could object again, he pulled her into a tight hug and gave her a light kiss on the cheek._

"_You take care, hold on, and wait for us, promise?"_

_She gave him a small nodd, for anything else was she too exhausted and tired. He gave her an encouriging smile and quickly disappeared through the exit hole to catch up with Mitchell's quick pace. The time was short. _

_TBC_

A/N – So, what do you ppl think about my first SG fic? Could be better? Could be worse? Interested in the continuing? Or will you sent it right into the trash? Let me know, I am always opened to new ideas and constructive criticism is ALWAYS welcomed and appreciated. And pls, if you have some time left, and are in the mood to, pls, leave me a review, I am always high about every single review. ) If ya have any questions, misundersanding or whatever considering the story, let me a note and i will try to answer them all (or at least the ones I can reveal.. ;).

Hope to see you soon.

PS – I am a slow writer, so pls, don_'_t be too impatient with me about the continuing. It sure has one. :)


	2. Corridors and loos

**Summary** – Vala has her issues, but she is adapting well into the SGC, or so Daniels thinks. Till some unexpected trouble occurs and the teams trust towards her is put to test. What´s more, in the most inappropriate moment, a mission goes totally wrong.

**Pairing** – Daniel and Vala, but a lot of the rest of the team as well

**Spoilers** – Season 10 spoilers

**Disclaimer** – Well, obviously not owning the SG world, because if so, I would not post this story here, but publish a book itself and make loads of money. Or, if nobody was interested into reading it, well, to hell with them, I could afford to publish the book anyway! ;)

**Dawn – Thanx so much for the wonderfull review and the criticism, you may well be more harsh next time.:) About the funny sentence structures…well, am not a native speaker and some constructions sometimes…well,overwhelm me I guess. lol. But will try do be carefull next time.**

**Sandra – **I still can't believe you did it. You owe me!

**ALL others – **Thank you all who were so kind to post a review, you made my day! As a reward, here is the next chapter. And don't forget the RER: read – enjoy - review. :) As always, constructive criticism is welcomed.

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 1 –Corridors and Loos

**3 days earlier:**

„Aw, just look at him…" Whispered Mitchell to Vala, pointing his look at Daniel, who was sitting right across the round table they were sitting at.

„Yeah. A kid in the candy store."

Mitchell gave her an affirmative grin, which was quickly wiped of his face by a glare Daniel instantly gave him.

„Ya think he heard us?" Asked Vala, but her tone was rather amused than misgiven.

„Nah. He is too much into his conversation with the mayor." Replied Cam, still keeping his voice low.

„I was too, you know. About three hours ago!"

„Well, you can't blame him really, this place is his Dannyland."

„You mean Dinseyland?"

„I believe you mean Disneyland, Vala Mal Doran."A deep voice from Vala's side was heard.

„Yep, T is right. It's called DiSNeyland, and Dannyland is an expression for a dream place for all the nerds like Daniel, and I mean it in the best of ways."

„Right. Aw just look at him. Don't you two also think he looks kinda cute when he is so passionate about something?" Asked Vala, a mischief sparkle apearing in her eye.

„Ehh...I never really though about it that way..." Said Mitchell.

„Nor did I." Said T'ealc in his usual stoic manner, like he was talking the weather.

„But now that you mention it..." continued Mitchell, his head bending slightly as he was assesing what the just said, „...if I was a chic..."

„Guys, be quiet or they'll kick us out!" hissed a quiet voice that belonged to Sam, sitting next to Cam.

„Well, that would be more of a reward than punishment."Grimaced Vala.

„My bottom is so stiff it feels dead to me by now. These so-called chairs are uncomfortable as hell." She added. She's been shiffting her weight and fidgeting on her chair for the past one and half hours.

„Yeah, they are, but whispering while having an off-world discussion with potential allies isn't very polite." Sam pointed out.

„Yeah sure, like they can hear us. Look around you. They're all as ancient as the galaxy itself. So polite or not..." But what was or wasn't polite Mitchell and Sam never found out, since one of the town's councillors intervened their conversation.

"Do our revered guests have a question they may not dare to speak out loud?"

All four of them shut up at once. Sam's cheeks turned slightly pink, while Mitchell pretended to study the decorative engravings of the table, as if trying to find some secret code in them. T'ealc posed untouched by the situation as always, yet he did slightly look ashamed. The only one that was able to look directly at the councillor was Vala. She gave him her most sweet and innocent smile, not daring to look at Daniel. While was everybody at the large table staring at them, obviously waiting for the question that didn't exist, Vala was trying desperately to figure something out.

"We…we were just discussing, where…the toilets were."

She felt Cam stiffen and heard Sam gasp. Well, if they didn't like it, they should have come with a better question themselves…

The mayor and the whole council were speechless for a moment. The expression on Daniel's face was pretty legible, and at that point, Vala was really glad that the table was as wide as it was, because she was pretty sure that if he could, Daniel would reach across it and grab her by the collar.

Finally, the mayor himself said: "Well, of course. We are so sorry, it's been a while since we started to counsel. Tabuti!" he called a handsome young man who was serving their bevarages earlier.

"Tabuti, would you be so kind and escort our guests to the necesitty quarters? Doctor Jackson, do you also need to leave to refresh yourself?"

Daniel looked as if the only thing that could really refresh him now was to strangle Vala.

"No, thank you mayor for your kind offer, but if you allow, we may proceed in our conversation."

He shot a deadly glare towards the others and a special one I-can't-believe-you-too to T'ealc. Then he returned to his conversation, trying to be as polite and calm as he was capable of.

Once outside the chamber, they set off down the large marble corridor. As soon as possible, Vala started speaking again.

„That went well."

„Well?!" Sam's incredulous voice was heard. "Daniel's gonna kill us!"

"Nah…He likes us." Said Vala confidently, but then added with less certainty: "He does, doesn't he?"

"Well, would you bet your ass on that right now?" Asked Mitchell. Vala though for a second, then sighed heavily.

"Nope, you're right, probably not."

Tabuti was walking a few steps in front of them, never looking back, simply assuming the four would just follow him. Mitchell cought up on him and started a polite conversation with the young man.

"So…Tabuti, is that right?"For how long have you been serving the council?"

Sam shot him a questioning look and Cam threw her an ok-stupid-question-but-good-enough-for-small-talk shrug back.

"I am serving the council for a couple of years now. My grandfather is one of the councillors."

"Really? That sounds interesting…" Said Cam, able to catch with the corner of his eye, that Vala rolled her eyes.

"So your grandfather is one of the really big guys round here, isn't he?"

"If you mean that he is high in the rank, then yes."

"What about your father? What is he doing?"

"He is working in the higher administrative, hoping to become a councillor himself one day."

"Your father? How old is he?"

"He is 63 years old."

"Aw…what about you? Want to join the tradition?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Our laws allow us to become councilllors only at the age of 70 or older. I wouldn't want to wait so long. I want to open a small business one day. Of course, I still have many years of study ahead of me to be alowed to do so." Vala raised both her eyebrows and before anyone could stop her, she blurted out.

"Study years to become a simple seller?"

They all assumed the boy would get offended and finish the conversation, but got pretty surprised as he smiled and started to explain his point to them.

"Our laws are sacred. They require only the well educated ones to become politicians, public representatives, traders, explorers, teachers, lawers or doctors, all kinds of careers really. Even an ordinary…"seller" if you like, is obliged to be well educated to be able to acomplish maximum effectivity and progress for our society."

"What happens to people who can't afford to study?" Asked Sam.

"Oh. There is no one like that here. Everybody is given the chance to study, no matter from what family he comes."

"Well, what about those who simply aren't, you know, into swotting?" Asked Vala.

"There is not much of those who would willingly refuse the offer to educate themselves." Vala gave him an unconviced look.

"But well, it happens on ocassions. According to our laws, the individual is responsible for his own destiny, so by choosing not to educate himself, he is not welcomed to live among us anymore."

"You mean that these individuals are forced to leave?" Stepped in T'ealc.

"Well, they have proven to be unworthy of the kindness and generosity of our system. They had an oportunity they refused to use, the consequence is to leave our community and live somewhere else."

"Like where?" Asked Mitchell.

"In the unknown territories. They lie beyond the borders of our country. From what I have heard, there is a community of a few hundred who live there, yet in really primitive conditions."

"So you literally expel people for not obeying rules?"

"Don't you do so on your homeworld as well?" Asked Tabuti surprised.

"Well we do. But only when they harm others." Replied Mitchell.

"Then we agree on the same. By not acceping the offered privileges, these people disobey our very rules of existence and are forced to leave."

The boy stopped his pace and looked around. Seeing no one was in reach, he said quietly: "I won't pretend that I completely agree with all those laws of our community, but the councillors decided so and it can't be changed."

"What about your grandfather? Wouldn't he like to change some rules?"

"My grandfather? Oh no, he couldn't. He swore the holly oath to the sacred mace when he became a councillor."

"Well, what about your father then? Does he like the idea of becoming a councillor at the age of 70?"

The boy loitered a bit. "Well, as a son of a respected member of the community, he has not much choice but to wait for his time to serve as a councillor. It has always been his dream and with the years passing, he sometimes grows a bit impatient. But he has only seven years left." Tabuti gave them a genuine smile.

"But I am sure that all this is boring and won't interest you. We just arrived to our destination anyway."

They stopped at the end of the long corridor. It seemed it took them hours to get there. The though that crossed Sam's mind at once was, how could all those old councillors make it to the loos on time.

Tabuti pointed at a small door and waited outside patiently, till they all did what mother nature required. The moment they set off to get back again, Vala had to ask the question that has been on her mind for the last few minutes.

"So what is it with this sacred mace? Some nice, shiny…'artefact'?"

Sam had to smile. Vala learned quickly, but often happened to interprete things in her own way. Like now, for instance. The word artefact she got from Daniel, yes. Yet there was a slight difference between the deffinition Daniel would use, and the one Vala had on her mind.

"Yes. It is our most holly object. It's belonged to our forefather, Valor, blessed is his name. Do you wish to see it?" Vala's eyes shined in joy.

"Can we??" She asked excitedly. Cam looked at Sam and quietly whispered under his breath.

"Now we are in Valaland…"

Tabuti lead them through a couple of more corridors, till they came to a halt in front of very high and very wide door, that lead to a vast round chamber, that was full of various objects of clearly high value. The walls were covered with ancient writings, illuminated by soft, warm light that came from tall torches that were circling the whole room in small distances. Yet, there was something else that cought their eyes first.

Exactly in the middle of the room, there was a pedestal with a soft cushion on it, upon which resided a small golden object. However, exept the fact that it was made of gold, nothing really indicated it was a mace. It was small, round plano-convex in which's centre was a small interesting transparent stone of no colour. It looked like glass, yet when looking at it more closely, everybody got the impression it was far more than that.

"Well, it's rather…small, isn't it? No offense, but I was awaiting something…well…bigger…" Stated Vala plainly.

"What she means," stepped in Sam, "is that it doesn't resemble a clasical mace at all."

"Well, it's called a mace because it characterizes our descent. We came all from one, the almighty Valor, to whom the sacred mace belonged and who is now looking over us. He is everywhere around us, and this mace shall always remember us, that we are seen and judged by him. He is the all-powerfull lord."

"And you don't need guards to protect such valuable object?" Asked T'ealc.

Tabuti smiled. "No. We have no criminality in our community. And of course, Valor is looking over us, as well as the mace itself. Nobody would ever dare to do anything to it, not to mention steal it."

"So you are saying this little treasure of yours has absolutely no security measures?" Asked Vala interestedly.

"No, it has not." Said Tabuti in calm voice. The others looked shocked, so Tabuti continued.

"This mace has been here for 263 years and nobody ever tried to harm it. Our laws require to lay our faith in Valors hands."

After that, the young man bowed, closed his eyes and started to speak some prayer. While he wasn'twatching, Vala decided to use the situation and held out her hand to touch the little object.

"Ah-ah! Don't you even think about it!!!"

Came a familiar voice from behind. She jumped and her hand shot immediately back to her side. She turned quickly and there was Daniel with the mayor and a couple of the councillors, coming in through the large door.

"Daniel! I didn't see you coming." She gave him the most innocent smile she could master, but he didn't seem convinced at all.

"I see you have already seen our sacred mace. Do you like it, my lady?" Asked the mayor.

"Well…it is surely impressive. I bet it is quite …valuable." Said Vala, not paying attention to Daniel's warning looks.

"Yes. It's priceless. Without it, our very existence would be endangered."

"I see. Does it have any…well, lets say, ' special abilities'?" Asked Vala, but before she could drive the conversation any further, Daniel stepped in, trying to turn the topic to the ancient writings on the walls.

After another excrutiating hours of culture-babble, as Vala was calling it, the locals have invited them to a feast meal before their departure. The whole community was present and so the feast took place outside the big town hall on a small plaza, decorated with flowers, ribbons and loads of food and beverages. Right in the middle of the place was the stargate. Sam's first though that it wasn't very safe to place the gate right in the middle of a town, but she didn't dare to comment on it to the councillors.

They spent some nice time talking to the locals, Daniel finally meeting Tabuti, whom he got introduced by Tabuti's grandfather, while the rest of them were in conversations with the mayor and the other councillors. They all seemed quite intrested in the idea of a research team from earth to come and co-work with their own scientific groups on some of the ancient scripts and artefacts they couldn't decipher themselves for centuries. It was an hour later Daniel noticed, that while the rest of the team were all having conversations with the locals, Vala was nowhere to be seen. So he crossed the small place and took Mitchell by the arm, asking his debate collegue to excuse them.

"What is it Daniel?"

"Have you seen Vala?"

"Yeah, she was right here a couple of minutes ago, why?"

"Well, she is not anymore."

"Are you sure?" Cam looked around as if expecting Vala to stand right beside, Daniel only not noticing.

"Yes, I am quite sure."

Cam furrowed his brow. "Maybe I should go look for her, we are supposed to leave in half an hour."

Daniel sighed. "No, leave it to me, I'll find her. She can't be far."

"Ok, but don't be long, the SGC is awaiting us in 30 mins. Try to ask Sam, maybe she knows. She's been talking to her the last time I saw her."

"Thanks."

Daniel crossed the place again and came to Sam, who was talking passionately to the mayor about the possibilities to use solar energy on their planet.

" Mayor, I am sorry to interrupt, but could I speak to Col. Carter for a second?"

"Od course Dr. Jackson. I will go help your big companion over there…" he pointed at T'ealc, who was standing at the food table "…to find something he might like. He looks a bit overwhelmed with the offer." He gave them a smile and left.

"Hey Sam, do you know where Vala is?"

"Sure Daniel. She said the loud music was giving her a headache and that she would take a walk through the town hall instead. You can't blame her really,…" she lowered her voice "…I mean, listen to the music. They play dreadful! Besides…" she continued with her normal voice again, "…she said she wanted to look at the ancient writings in the treasure room, she said they looked familiar to her."

"The writings, huh?" Replied Daniel sceptically.

Sam gave a little laugh. "Aw c'mon Daniel. Even she may be interested in history from now and then." He raised an eyebrow. "Besides, she really looked bothered, probably the headache." Daniel gave her a concerned look.

"Daniel…" she sighed. "Nothing can happen, she is right round the corner and she said she would return soon, so don't worry."

"Sam, it's Vala we are talking here about. I am always worried." Said Daniel with a smile. "That woman can get into trouble anywhere and anytime." Sam just gave him a smile.

"Ok, if you so worried that something, though I don't know what something is supposed to mean, could happen, go find her."

"I'll be back as soon as possible. We are supposed to leave in 30 minutes anyway."

"Sure. I'll tell Cam."

Daniel walked the corridors for some time now. The bloody hallways looked all the same, and since they were all empty, because everybody was outside celebrating, he couldn't even ask for directions. At last, he stopped at the entrance of the treasure chamber. He could hear some soft cursing from inside. He peaked inside only to see Vala's back turned towards him, crawling on her knees near the pedestal of the sacred mace, looking at the ground and cursing all way along. A horrific though occurred to Daniel.

"Please tell me you didn't smash anything!"

She jumped at once at the sound of his voice. Unfortunatelly, at the same moment, a soft thud was heard as her head hit the stone pedestal, followed by a muffled scream of pain.

"Dammit Daniel! What the hell you think you are doing?" She was again on her knees, holding her forehead in both hands.

He rushed to her, kneeling beside her. "Oh my goodness, I am so sorry. I didn't want to startle you like that. Are you alright?"

"And how exactly did you want to startle me?" She asked angrily.

"C'mon, let me take a look…" He took both her hands off her face to have a better look. The skin was a bit red in the area she bumped, but otherwise, she looked fine. She was scowling like a little child. This part of her annoyed him most of the time, but in the rest one percent of the cases, he found it could be really cute. He lightly patted with his fingertips over her forehead to demonstrate she was fine, then gave her a smile.

"See? No harm done." They looked at each other for a few seconds, then she pulled back abruptly and quickly stood up. Her reaction surprised him. Usually in this kind of situation, she would pass some provocative remark that would make him blush, but not this time. He found himself a bit dissappointed, then inwardly smirked at his own though. He pulled himself as well, getting on her eye level again.

"And no, I didn't ' smash' anything. What are you doing here anyway?" She asked in a wondering tone.

"Was looking for you. We are leaving in 30 minutes."

"I know, I am watching the time. How did you know I was here?"

"Sam told me you wanted some time out."

"Aw, I see."

You shouldn't be wandering on your own like that we are off-world, remember?"

"Please Daniel, stop lecturing me, I am really not in the mood right now." Although her tone was calm, he could see something was bothering her. She was nervous and looked impatient, though he didn't understand why.

"Hey. Are you alright?" He asked her kindly.

"Yeah, I am fine." seeing he still wasn't convinced she added. "It's just the headache. It's killing me."

He was sure it wasn't just that, but he didn't want to push the subject further.

"Well, we'll be home in half an hour, you can take some aspirin then. What were you looking at?" Asked Daniel, changing the topic on purpose.

She looked at him for a few seconds, as if hesitating what to tell him, then simply stated.

"Just looking at the ancient writings."

"Really?" Said Daniel with a grin.

"What? Can't I have a look at them? I can read goauld you know and some of these writings are indeed goauld." She said in an innocent voice.

"And what did the goauld write on the floor?" He replied as innocently. To his surprise, her expression got sheepish.

"Well, I had a loose shoelace. You wouldn't want me to fall down and smash my gorgeous face, would you?" She showed him her whole set of teeth again, winking with her lashes. She was definitely up to something, but he didn'twant to know more details really, so he just gave in.

"Of course not, what a waste it would be for the galaxy."

"Not to mention the gene-pool." She gave him one of her brightest mischievous smiles and he had to grin wide despite himself at the memory of of Vala's first encounter with Mitchell.

"Ok, ready to return to the others now?"

She gave him a nod, yet there seemed something about her that didn't want to leave. Finally, Vala joined Daniel at the door, at which she hesitated for a moment, then swtiched to a quick pace forcing Daniel to jog in order to catch up on her. On the way back Vala remained silent and thoughfull, almost disappointed about something, but Daniel had any idea about what. On the other hand, he just may things up. She might only suffer from the headache after all. They were approximately In the middle of their way out when Vala stopped abruplty, causing Daniel to bump into her back.

"Vala, what on earth are you…"

"This is the corridor that leads to the toilets, isn't it?" She said thoughfully, more for herself than to Daniel.

"I don't know, I wasn't there. But even if it was the corridor, so what?"

"I need to use the ladies room. Don't wait for me, I will catch up on you guys at the gate." She was already running along the dark corridor, never leaving Daniel a chance to respond.

"But Vala..!" He tried to call after her, but the only visible that was left of her was a running silhoutte.

"I won't be long!" Was the last he could hear.

Daniel just sighed and started his walk to get out of that bloody town-hall. To him, sthis place was somehow creepy. When he finally arrived at the exit door and stepped out into the sunlight, he had to squeeze his eyes because of the bright sun. The first one to come towards him was Cam with a puzzling look.

"So what? You found the princess but the dragon kicked your ass? Where's Vala?"

"Very funny. She needed to use the ladies room. She will be here in a minute."

"I hope so. Ok, time to say goodbye."

They all made their goodbyes with the mayor and the councillors, agreeing to see each other again in two days time, so the members of the new exploration team could be introduced to the mayor, the council and locals. The partnership treaty would be sighned then between the mayor and Daniel as the represenative of earth.

While T'ealc was dialing the gate, Daniel looked around to say goodbye to Tabuti, but he didn't see the joung man anywhere near around.

"Councillor, may I ask where is your grandson?"

"Tabuti? I sent him to look after you a couple of minutes ago, since your teammates were wondering what took you so long. He must be still somewhere in the town hall, it's easy to get lost there." Answered the old man kindly.

"Aw, I see. Sorry to have caused you the trouble."

The old councillor laughed warmly. "Ow, no way. No trouble at all."

The gate was already opened but Vala was nowhere to be seen. Just as Daniel was thinking to go after her again, they all heard running footsteps and in a few seconds Vala's figure appeared in the entrance door. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath, resting her clenched fists on her knees. Finally, she went over to the rest of them.

"Sorry it took a while, I got lost in all those funny corridors." She was beaming, an enourmous grin spread all over her face. The bad mood from earlier disappeared without a trace.

"We can go."

She stepped to the mayor and the members of the council, quickly shaking their hands. Daniel didnt't like the sight of her, shaking hands with the mayor while having her left hand in her trouser pocket. He remembered how he already for so many times tried to give her a lecture on the rules of appropriate attitude, yet she always somehow managed to change the subject or slip away. Well, she definitely won't the next time.

Just before they stepped through the event horizon, Vala said to the others.

"Guys, I am really glad we are going home. I am starving."

"Starving?" Said Daniel incredulously. "You were at a feast meal that lasted several hours!"

"Well Daniel, I am sure you know that almost every alien food tastes like chicken. And you know very well too how I feel about chicken. I hate it!" She said shaking sligthly at the very thought.

Before Daniel could reply anything to her, Vala disappeared in the wormhole.

TBC

A/N – Ok, so maybe some of you were surprised that I didn't follow up on the previous Prologue, but don't worry, we actually get to that point. :) Till then, you gotta be patient and read what happened "before" our little ice-break incident. Yet, I hope you like this as well.

Again, don't know when I will post the next chapter. Right now am pretty exhausted from this one, I had to rewrite a lot untill I finally liked it, so I hope you guys will like it too. Read and review.


	3. Coffee and Hairslides

**Summary** – Vala has her issues, but she is adapting well into the SGC, or so Daniels thinks. Till some unexpected trouble occurs and the teams trust towards her is put to test. What´s more, in the most inappropriate moment, a mission goes totally wrong.

**Pairing** – Daniel and Vala

**Spoilers** – Season 10 spoilers

**Disclaimer** – Well, obviously not owning the SG world, because if so, I would not post this story here, but publish a book itself and make loads of money. Or, if nobody was interested into reading it, well, to hell with them, I could afford to publish the book anyway! ;)

**Sandra – **U declared war, you shall get it. You give me no information, I give you no information. It's just the way the cookie crumbles. ) And yes, this one chapter is for you, obluda.

**Dawnie – **You are a review angel, thank you so much! And no hesitation at criticims. As Vala would say – And more enthusiasm from you next time! ;)

**ALL others – **Thank you so much, to everybody who reviewed but also to everobody who simply read my story, I hope you enjoy it. I surely enjoy writtng it. :) You guys rock. This one is for all of the shippers out there. Again, RER – read – enjoy – review.

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 2 – Coffee and Hairslides

„BOO!"

At that sound, Daniel got such a scare that he dropped the mug he was holding and the coffee spat all across his shirt and floor.

„Ooooops…"

„Ooooops indeed!" Said Daniel angrily, then sighed. „What do you want Vala?"

„I said I am sorry, so no need to be rude…" Said Vala in an offened tone, entering Daniels office without invitation, sitting down on Daniels chair, putting her feet on the table.

„No, you said 'Ooooops', not 'sorry '." He took a small cloth that laid just withing reach. He tried to dry his shirt, but then he saw the shirt was already stained and not-to-save. So he got to his knees, wiping the remaining coffee off the floor, purposely turning his back to Vala. Suddenly, the room got all quiet and he could literally feel her look on his… NO, he has to stop her right there!

He jumped to his feet, quickly turning back to the woman that could always take him by surprise, no matter what. A large lazy grin was spread across her face, sizing him up and down, obviously having fun. Finally, she broke the silence.

„You know, you should really thank me. I just saved your life."

„Yeah? How come?" Asked Daniel indifferently, wiping his dirty coffee-stained hands with the cloth.

„That stuff..." She pointed her head to the spilled coffee, „...is dangerous."

„Really?" He asked casually.

„Yeah. Mitchell told me."

Daniel pulled a face. „Yeah, I bet he did…that little traitor."

„He said that coffee was poisonous if taken in great amounts." She said convincingly.

„Yeah, and not just the coffee..." murmered Daniel under his breath.

„So...are you finally going to take your shirt off or what?" Asked Vala impatiently. Daniel almost chocked.

„Excuse me?!?"

„Your shirt. It's wet and stained." Explained Vala plainly.

„Aw, that. Well, later...perhaps..." Replied Daniel trying to mask his previous reply, yet he could not dispose of the embarrassment in his voice. Vala's smile grew even bigger, what Daniel believed to be impossible, and it scared the hell out of him.

„Daniel, I didn't know you were such a perv!" She cried out indignantly. "I will have to take heed of you or you'll ruin my untained spirit."

„I wouldn't even dream of it." Said Daniel dryly.

„Look, Vala, not that I wouldn't ' appreciate' your company, but is there any particular reason you are here? You know, just out of curiousity…" He said outwardly carelessly.

„In a matter of fact, there is."

„Feel like sharing?"

„Yep." She started to pivot on his chair. It drove him crazy and she knew that.

„Mitchell, Sam and T'ealc are waiting for us."

„Why? What happened?" Asked Daniel disturbed. Vala tilted her head back and gave an agonized cry.

„Lunch, Daniel! that's what happened. See, I may not live here long yet, but I have already discovered the secret of the strenght of your people. And I will be so gracious to share that secret with you, because firstly – I like you, and secondly – you aren't that cute when you play dumb. The secret is proper lunch!" She gave a dreamy look.

"Yummy, I am really hungry. Now, come on." She got up in a second and was already heading towards the door.

„Well, have fun."

She stopped in the middle of her tracks, turned around and gave him a surprised look. Well, he was safisfied. Now she was the one to get surprised.

„You mean you're not coming?"

„Yep."

She pulled a disgruntled face. „And why would you do that?"

„Well Vala, some people have things to do. We call it work."

She looked as if she couldn't understand what he was saying. Then her face lit up.

„Ah, I get it. You mean the time when you look through your papers, reports, drink galons of coffee and pretend to crack some ancient codes, don't ya?"

„Pretend? What do you mean 'pretend '?!?"

She gave a laugh. „Ow c'mmon Daniel, you know what I mean. You honestly can't think I'm gonna believe that during the whole time whilst you are hiding down here, you are really WORKING?!" She guilelessly laughed again, then looked at the security camera in the corner of the room and whispered through squeezed lips, her gaze never leaving the camera.

„The cameras don't record audio, do they? So you don't have to lie to me in order to make your bosses believe you work all the time. I think they already believe that."

Daniel was speechless. He really wanted to believe she was making fun of him, but with Vala, you never knew. Like her obsession with hairslides. He would never think the first time he met her that she could be so vain about such a silly thing as a hairslide. She was wearing one today too, obviously a new one. Before Daniel could stop it a though occured in his head. A pleasant one, but also one that scared him. It was a very simple one really, just how lovely she looked today. Her hair loose, her shirt covering as little skin as she could master with the military clothing, always trying to look sassy. And damn was she successfull.

„So what? Are we going?" Her words cut through the trail of his thoughts.

„Going? Where?" He gave her a confused look. His mind was still somewhere else.

She gave another desperate cry. „God, you really are slow today. I truly should have let you drink that coffee. The lunch Daniel, the L-U-N-CH. The only thing that's on my mind since I walked in here. So what? Are we going?"

„What makes you so certain I will go with you?" He gave her a crooked smile, leaning against a cabinet.

„You really want to do it the hard way?"

„As in...?"

„Hmm, let's see…I remember the last I was here convincing you to go have an ice-cream with me, and it involved some desperate measures on my part...I remember the noise of breaking glass and then..."

„Ok ok! I am going! And don't you ever dare to touch any of my things again." He grumbled.

„You mean something like this?"

He didn't even notice when or how she grabbed it, but when he saw how recklessly she tossed and fidgeted with his flacon from 436 B.C., he quickly clossed the distance between them and resolutely but carefully wrenched the priceless object from her grasp, putting it back affectionately to it's place. Then, he grabbed Vala by her arm and literally ousted them out of the office, never minding her wide grin.

"Ok, lunch it is." He said with the most calm, half-manic even, voice he could master.

"Aw Daniel, I didn't know you had such an animal in you. Rrrrrr…" She gave him an ear to ear all-fourty-teeth-smile.

"Quiet or I'll ask T'ealc to look after you again."

As they were receding into the corridor, Vala's horrified pleading voice could be heard throughout the mountain.

"What? Muscles? No, you can't do that to me! That guy sitts in the dark for hours. In silence!!"

TBC

AN – Ok, this one is a bit short and monothematic. I guess I wanted to leave this lovely scene to subside alone, not disrupted by smt else. And I wanted to give you guys another peace of work. :) I hope you liked it. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I loved to write it, so I hope it will be as enjoyable to read it. I hope I stayed true to the characters, at least in most of the situations. Whatcha think? Let me know. And also let me know if you like some shippers stuff like this from now and then, or if you prefer a more general story. Though, I guess, that you won't get rid of any, cos both parts have their fair share in this story, general AND romance. :) Will try to balance it out in the next chapters though. And don't worry. There's far more to the story to come. :)

See ya soon.


	4. Boys and Girls

**Summary** – Since you made it till here, I believe you already know all you need to know. :) Have fun.

**Sandra – **This is for you, a little apology and justification for my cowerdly flight on Sunday. Am a hovnos indeed. :) But I really think that you are going to like this one…:)

**Dawnie – **Thanx for the review, again. :)

**ALL others –**Thanx to all who read and review, but also thanx to all who simply read my story.

As usual - RER – read – enjoy – review.

**Caution – **Ok guys. I have a statement to make. I wrote this chapter before realizing I didn't know If it actually snows in Colorado Springs. If yes, God bless it. If not…well, just get used to the idea that in my fanfiction, it simply does. :)

**Leenie – There are not enough words to describe how grateful I am for your assistance, help and advice, but I will try anyway. THANK YOU!**

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 3 – Boys and girls 

"Some more ice-cream?" Asked Vala casually.

"Nope, but I didn't want the previous portion either and you simply ignored me and…"

"Great, will be back in a sec!" With that she jumped up heading towards the cafeteria counter, leaving Daniel speechless about the nonchalance with which she treated all his complaints.

"So…" Started Mitchell after swallowing a rather big amount if his pudding, "We've kind of got a tight schedule for the next few days. Tomorrow we are going to revisit PX-752, I am really looking forward to meeting all those vivacious adolescents again by the way," he pulled a face "And the day after tomorrow we go to PX-431, is that correct?"

"I believe you are wrong Col. Mitchell. PX-752 is the planet we visited only yesterday. Daniel Jackson consulted with the mayor and the councilors and they agreed to establish a permanent team of scientists to explore the planet. Tomorrow, we shall…"

"T'ealc," interrupted him Sam. "I Think Col. Mitchell knows PX-752 very well, he was only making a sarcastic and rather facetious joke about the age of the councilors."

"I see."

Vala came running with two gigantic cups of ice-cream, putting one in front of Daniel, the second in front of herself as she took her seat again. She dug the spoon deep into the ice-cream and helped herself to a portion Daniel didn't believe could fit into her mouth in one piece. As always, she proved him wrong.

"So what were you talking about?"

"Our revisit of PX-752 tomorrow." Replied Sam.

"Aw." Vala frowned. "To be honest, I am not in the mood to go there again." She complained.

"And why would that be?" Asked Daniel sarcastically.

"Well, it's boring, for starters, there are dozens of ancient slow people around and finally, we are going to sign a treaty about scientific and cultural exchange. It's a horror trip, for heavens sake!" Cried Vala.

Daniel pulled a face. "Well, unfortunately for us, you can't choose whether you are going or not so you better get used to the idea."

Vala scowled even more, yet she didn't object any further.

"So, PX-431, that's the ice planet, isn't it?" Began Cam, breaking the silence. "I read Emerson's report. Sounds chilly."

"Yeah, you bet. It's like a desert, but all covered in snow. No vegetation, some huge rocks here and there. And lakes. Dozens of small frozen lakes with some kind of strange thermal quakes." Said Sam with an unconcealed scientific eagerness.

"Here's the thing I don't get." Said Mitchell. "WHY explore a deserted planet like that?"

"Well, we explored Antarctica. Found some very interesting things over there." Pointed out Sam and gave Cam a teasing smile. He smiled himself.

"You got me. Ok, let me rephrase my question. Why US?"

"Oh, that would be my fault, I guess." Interrupted Daniel. "I asked general Landry to send SG1 there."

"Specifically." He added coyly.

"Now why would you do that?" Asked Mitchell incredulously.

"Well," answered Daniel hurriedly, "I believe we may find something there."

"And what makes you think WE can find something there when SG7 couldn't? I mean other than snow, cold, rocks and cold again?"

Daniel felt a strong sense of familiarity. Yep, Cam could sometimes be a pain in the ass, exactly the way Jack had been. He sighed and continued his explanation.

"Well, SG7 only took some samples for testing. And they mentioned that after a short walk, they could see some small rocky areas, probably containing caves, but they didn't have the time to go there since they had to report back."

"And your point is?" Asked Mitchell, pretending he still didn't get what Daniel was saying. Daniel did exactly what Cam expected him to do in response – he became impatient. Cam smiled inwardly. Yep, General O'Neill was right, it was indeed great fun to tease Daniel. He made a mental note to thank the General for the great advice the next time the two of them saw each other.

"My point is, those caves may contain some interesting findings. I mean, maybe, if the planet is, or at least was inhabited at some point, the caves are the best place to look for remainders of a culture."

"I know. Relax Jackson, I get your point. It's just that I am not a big fan of Antarctica-like planets, if you know what I mean." They all knew what he meant. The last time he was over Antarctica, he got shot down by a big alien ship, waiting for hours alone in cold for somebody to come rescue him.

"I wonder…" asked Vala broodingly, picking in her ice-cream, "…if snow feels something like ice-cream…" She was still staring into her cup, completely oblivious of her teammates' astounded faces.

"She is making fun of us." Said Daniel impassively as he noticed the shocked faces of his teammates. He didn't believe her for a second.

"No, it's the truth, Daniel. Well, of course that I've heard about snow before, but never actually came across any. And since my arrival on Earth, I've only seen snow on TV. Mostly last month, during that funny holiday of yours. It's the one where you eat that big chicken you call turkey, decorate ugly plastic imitations of trees with glass balls and lightbulbs, and expect a fat old man in a ridiculous red costume to actually climb down your chimney and give you presents. For FREE! Now how absurd is that? I can't say I really understand some of your customs. Anyway, there was almost always snow involved in those movies. Your people however, seem to rather welcome it. Now that's odd, because from what I have heard, I got the impression that coming across snow was nothing to be happy about. Such encounters didn't end up well on many ocassions. So I didn't bother about frozen water anymore. Better be careful than regretfull. Plus, frozen water can't be of much value."

They all went silent after that little speech of hers, Mitchell the first to find his voice again.

"You trying to make us believe that you've never seen snow before?"

"Why? Should I?" Asked Vala uncocerned.

"After all you have been through? After all those years of visiting all kinds of worlds it's impossible that you've never encountered snow!" Said Sam incredulously.

"Qetesh liked it warm. She always stayed on hot planets if possible." Explained Vala simply. "And as for me, I didn't travel to distant planets much, excepting the cases I wanted to hide something valuable, or hide myself for that matter…" Daniel rolled his eyes, "But other than that, I always stayed on trading planets which are mostly completely industrial, their weather conditions regulated. I was a trader you know; I needed to stay in touch with other traders."

"You mean smugglers and thieves."

"Aw, call them whatever you wish Daniel, but I always made a fair share to support the family."

"You mean yourself."

"Again, you may call it whatever you like…"

"Ok, ok!" Stepped in Mitchell. "We get the picture. So, you're saying you've never actually experienced snow before?"

"I already told you. No! Although now, after I've seen all those happy cheery movies, I must admit that snow appears to be fun sometimes. Anyway, does it make a difference that I never actually touched snow?"

"Well, we are going on a mission with a member of a team that doesn't know the weather conditions at all, what do you think?"

Vala looked panicked. "Does that mean I can't go?!"

"Nah, we'll figure something out. In fact, this is your lucky day! No scratch that last, this is your lucky…season! It's winter you know and we've got snow a hundred meters above us, all over and around this huge mountain. Maybe we could take you outside later in the afternoon. I will ask general Landry for permission to take you to the surface for a couple of hours. It shouldn't be a problem."

Vala's eyes lit up. "Oh, that would be great! I could go to the surface! And if there is snow, we may also have a snowfight, don't we?! Snowfights look like great fun, yay!" Then she looked around.

"Who's on my team?"

Sam could see the joy in the other woman's eyes and she didn't have the heart to spoil her excitement by pointing out how childish snowfights were, so she raised her hand.

"You've got me."

"Great! Boys versus girls then!"

"Well, since you've got Carter…" Said Mitchell. "…And we've got Jackson, two on three looks a pretty good deal for the girls-team to me."

"Yeah, well, thanks for your faith in me, Cam, I really appreciate the support of a colleague. Anyway, no worries about that, I wasn't planning on joining you."

"C'mon Daniel, it was a joke." Said Sam frowning.

"Sam, don't worry, I know." He smiled genuinely. "I just don't have the time. I need to revise the text of the treaty for tomorrow. It could take a few hours."

"Oh. So you're not coming?" Asked Vala disappointed.

"I am sure you are going to be fine, even without my clumsiness." He sent a challenging look towards Cam.

"Who will I beat up then?" Asked Vala let down, yet Daniel could see a mischievous sparkle in her eye.

"Aw don't worry bout that. I am sure Col. Mitchell will sacrifice himself."

"Not without a fight, though." Said Mitchell resolutely. "Ok, I am going to see general Landry now. Meet you at the D6 exit in an hour, so don't be late. Oh, and make sure you dress up properly girls, 'cause we won't show you any mercy."

"You wish!" Shouted Sam after him, as he disappeared through the corridor.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel couldn't believe he would ever think of something like that, but he had to admit it at last. He was bored. He'd been reading the text of the treaty over and over again and by now, he couldn't distinguish the words from each other anymore. He reached subconsciously for his coffee but found the mug empty. He sighed, got up, grabbing the mug in the process, and headed towards the door with the intention of refilling it with fresh hot coffee. Yet, he stopped at the door and stood there for a moment, thinking about something. Then he turned abruptly as if suddenly changing his mind, grabbed his coat in addition to his cap, gloves and scarf and made it for the nearest exit out.

At the gatehouse, he asked the serving sergeant if he had accidentally seen the members of SG1 passing by some time ago. The sergeant indeed saw them and gave Daniel directions, pointing at a small trodden footpath that lead to a thin forest nearby.

Daniel didn't have to search for his friends too long. After about ten minutes, he could already hear loud cries from somewhere ahead of him. A male voice was cursing and a female voice was obviously having a good laugh at something. About the male voice, he couldn't be sure, but since he knew that Teal'c didn't curse, it could have only been Mitchell. The female voice however, Daniel recognized at once. It belonged to a certain black-haired alien. Unfortunately, Daniel thought, through the past few weeks, he had grown very fond of that laugh. And it's owner as well.

Yet he hushed those thoughts away, as the voices were growing louder. Suddenly, something big and dark grabbed him and pulled him behind a tree. Before he could yell, Mitchell's voice whispered in his ear.

"Jackson? What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were not coming!"

Daniel wanted to reply that he changed his mind, but was instantly hushed by Cam again.

"Be quiet or they'll find us. I certainly am not in the mood for another thrashing." He looked around carefully, but the female voices seemed to recede, so he started to explain quickly.

"Man Daniel, you should have seen them! They are unbelievable!"

"Who?" Asked Daniel confused.

"The girls! They are…everywhere! Sam, she always comes up with an insane idea of how to get us, and Vala, oh man, she is crazy enough to carry those plans out! They beat the crap out of us. Well, ok, just me. I lost Teal'c somewhere along the way. They've separated us on purpose, can you believe that? Anyway, he is far better at hiding than I am, so I guess they didn't get to him." Cam was looking in distress around him in all directions. Then, an idea struck him and he gave Daniel a wicked look.

"I've got an idea."

"Something tells me I'm not gonna like it." Said Daniel dryly.

"The girls don't know you're here, and they know Teal'c and I are separated. They won't come after him, since I am an easier target. Well, I will pose as bait, and while they are distracted with chasing me, you attack them from behind!"

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "Both of them? At once?"

"Aw man, c'mon! You owe that to me…help me save my pride, I beg you! I don't care if you get them both or just one, one you can choose freely, but please, let's get at least one of them!"

"I don't know…It won't be fair…"

"Fair? FAIR? Man, those females don't play fair. They don't even know the meaning of that word! This is a war Jackson, so listen to your commander and help me."

"You know I am non-military." Replied Daniel. Cam growled.

"So why did you come then? To have some fresh air?"

Suddenly, there was movement in the trees. Mitchell hushed Daniel again, then motioned to some bushes nearby, signaling that the girls were there. He looked at Daniel, who nodded. Mitchell gave Daniel a final look and with that rushed out of his hiding place. Two quick shadows followed him at once, big snowballs flying after him. Daniel didn't hesitate. He rushed out as well and shortly caught up with one of the figures that was lagging behind the first two. He grabbed her from behind and pulled her down. Vala gave a scared shriek and Daniel, using the moment of surprise, had her pinned down without much effort.

"Hey there. I heard some disturbing rumors that said you were giving a buddy of mine a hard time. Anything to say in your defense?"

She still looked rather breathless, but Daniel saw the recognition in her eyes and she finally found her voice again.

"Oh my God, Daniel! You scared the hell out of me! You weren't supposed to be here!"

"Well, thanks for the nice welcome." He gave her a mischievous grin. He was holding her hands with one of his arms, the other arm started to grab for snow. Vala noticed that and tried to pull out of his grasp, but since her body was firmly pinned down by his legs, Vala realized she didn't have many options left. Before he could realize what was happening, she freed one of her arms and quickly reached behind his neck, pulling him down into a kiss.

Daniel was paralyzed. The only thing he could focus on were her soft warm lips covering his own.

Although they had kissed before, this time, it was different. They were different.

Just as the kiss started to deepen, Vala suddenly slipped underneath him and managed to shift her weigh completely, so now, it was her turn to pin him down. Well, maybe they weren't that different after all.

Her cap somehow slipped off in that process and her long dark hair fell loose all around her, almost reaching Daniels face. A very gentle scent brushed his senses. A very dainty one, but still so heady it drove him crazy. She saw his look and gave him a devilish smile.

"Well, well, Daniel. You just never learn from your mistakes, do you?" She said in a deep voice and looked down at him.

He could do nothing else but stare back. Her smile grew even bigger, yet there was a more serious feel to it. Like an understanding of some kind.

There were quick steps approaching, but Daniel couldn't move an inch so far. He lay still, gazing at Vala, trying to figure out what had just happened. She broke the contact looking up to the place she assumed the sounds were coming from.

"Aw man! I can't believe she's got you. You had an advantage!!!" Shouted a voice from between the trees and suddenly Mitchell, Sam and Teal'c appeared. Vala quickly stood up, releasing Daniel from her captivity.

"YOU were the one supposed to cram her with snow, not otherwise!" Cried Mitchell, who was covered in snow from head to toes.

"We proclaimed a truce, by the way." Mitchell sighed heavily.

"Yeah sure, truce." Replied Sam dismissively. "You gave up, begging me to end your suffering! Right Teal'c?"

"I am afraid I must concur with Col. Carter."

"Ok, ok." Said Mitchell, sounding slightly annoyed. "But you were supposed to be on my team Teal'c. While those two hags chased my ass, you were hiding somewhere nice and dry. As a result of that cowardly behavior of yours, you are officially FIRED off my team!" Continued Mitchell with discontent. It was then that he noticed his friends' odd behavior: each was staring in a different direction.

"Hey guys, you ok?"

"Yeah, we're fine." Vala said, the first to reply.

"Except that Daniel got his ass beaten up again." She said with a small, rather nervous laugh. Daniel got up and slowly started to brush the snow off his clothes. He still looked rather startled.

"Well then, let's go have a cup of a hot chocolate then." Declared Mitchell.

"I would join you most gladly, Col. Mitchell." Agreed T'ealc.

"Yes, but before we can do that, we have to finish something else…" Said Cam with a menacing voice and then he pulled out a big snowball from somewhere in his coat. He took a swing, aiming at Sam, but she saw the ball coming and was able to duck just in time. Vala, who was right behind her, wasn't that lucky. The ball hit her right in the face. Before anyone could react, a loud moan could be heard. Vala cupped her face with both hands, groaning in pain.

All of them rushed to her, trying to pull her hands away to see what had happened. Her eye was red and was starting to swell. The skin above her eye was grazed and slightly bloody. Whatever got accidentally mixed into the snowball must have been sharp and may have hit the eye as well.

With the right side of her face still cupped in her hand, the others quickly led Vala out of the forest and into the mountain complex again. The pain slowly receded, but Vala claimed to have blurred vision. Mitchell was feeling really miserable, apologizing to her for the millionth time.

Dr. Lam performed a careful examination and was glad to state that, although Vala's cornea was considerably irritated, it was not damaged. She cleaned her eye out with a solution and sent her to rest with some eye drops to prevent possible infection.

"I am so sorry it ended up like this." Said Mitchell repentantly to Vala again, who surprisingly didn't look too sad about the whole thing. One could almost say she was cheery.

"Don't worry about that. Doc Lam said my eye's fine. Nevertheless, this incident bears some sad consequences …" She said ruefully.

"And they would be…?" Asked Daniel. Thanks to the unfortunate event that had occurred earlier and all the excitement about Vala's eye condition, Daniel hadn't even noticed how he and Vala had slipped into their old ways of talking again.

"Well, Doc Lam gave me these drops, which I shall take today and tomorrow as well. Unfortunately…" she pulled what she believed to be a sad face, "…they make my vision blurry, so Doc Lam recommended that you go to PX…-'whatever ' without me. How unfortunate is that? I was DYING to see all those familiar ancient faces again…" She said innocently, but they all saw she could barely hide a wide grin.

TBC

AN – Mmm, so whatcha think? To be honest, also this chapter had a life of its own, predominantly because there was not supposed to be any kissing at all:)

Well, tell me whatcha think. Again, far more to come, though maybe in longer lapses of time. Please, be patient you all. Your patience will be rewarded. :)


	5. Truth and Lies

**Summary** – Since you made it till here, I believe you already know all you need to know. :) Have fun.

**Sandra – **Wonder what will you say to this one. But since I believe I know you well, I would say you will…hate me:))))

**Leenie – **Shukran, Habibti:

**ALL others –**Thanx to all who read and review, but also thanx to all who simply read my story.

As usual - RER – read – enjoy – review. REVIEW!!! Cos Gosh, how I LOOOOVE feedback!!!

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 4 – Truth and Lies 

"You look like a pirate." Noted Mitchell as he observed the black flap on a string that covered Vala's eye.

They were all standing in the gate room. It was rather crowded, since the members of SG1 were leaving with the scientific team to PX-752. General Landry was giving them some final pieces of advice regarding the treaty and their stay on the alien planet.

"Did the doc order that?" Asked Sam curiously, pointing at Vala's flap.

"Nope, I just like the look. Pirates are sexy!" She gave them a huge smile followed by a wink. Then she imitated the voice of a parrot.

"Have fun! Have fun!"

"You bet we will." Said Daniel. He still couldn't get rid of the memory of the kiss he and Vala shared the previous day. He thought, no, he knew for certain, that she did kiss him only to distract him and regain control over the situation. Maybe she did it for fun too. Still, he found himself somehow dissatisfied with this kind of explanation.

His thread of thought was disrupted by the loud 'kawoosh' the gate always produced when opening. It was time to leave. Vala's farewell ritual finally reached Daniel.

"Good luck. I hope everything goes well."

Her behavior was normal again: she was acting as if nothing had happened between them at all. Part of Daniel was glad about that, yet another part, which was smaller but more intensive, was disgruntled about it. How could she toy around with such issues?

"Vala, we are going to sign a cooperation and friendship treaty. What could possibly go wrong?"

"Well, you never know, people are strange…" She shrugged her shoulders. He gave her a small smile despite himself.

"No Vala, YOU are strange. All others are just fine." She pulled a face and stuck out her tongue at him, as Mitchell's voice cut through the air.

"Alright! Off we go. SG1 should be back in several hours, but we'll report in about three to inform you how things are progressing."

He gave the General a nod, then disappeared through the gate. Sam, Daniel and Teal'c followed shortly after, the members of the scientific team hesitating for a second but then following as well.

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Vala had been half through reading her magazine, when the alarms set off.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"

She snapped to alertness. It was no longer than 40 minutes since SG1 left, so it couldn't be them. Yet she got up quickly, snatching off her pirate flap, and made her way towards the door. Just after she entered the dialing room, she heard Walter telling the General that they've received a code and that it indeed belonged to SG1. General Landry looked concerned.

"Open the iris!"

"Yes, sir."

The iris opened and shortly after, SG1 stepped through the wormhole. Vala exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding. They all looked unharmed, yet they were walking like a group of thirsty camels. To the surprise of everyone present, all members of the scientific team came through the gate as well. General Landry, shortly followed by Vala, hurried into the gate room

"SG1, what happened? Why are you back so early? And why are the members of the scientific team back as well?"

Sam, Mitchell and Teal'c looked somehow nervous and uncomfortable, sending glances to each other, but not replying to the general's questions. Daniel, however, looked angry and resentful. Not looking at anyone, his eyes were firmly staring at the ground.

"You guys alright?" Asked Vala worriedly, fixing her gaze at Daniel.

"Maybe we should be debriefed right away General." Suggested Mitchell in an ambiguous voice.

"Agreed. Report to the infirmary right away for a quick check up and we meet in the debriefing room in 15 minutes. Dismissed."

Daniel didn't even wait for the end of the sentence and was already heading towards the door. Ripping off his BDU jacket, he furiously threw it to the corner of the room. The present personnel including Vala and the General were dumbfounded. Nobody had ever seen the young doctor loose his temper like that before.

"What on earth happened to him?" Asked Vala stunned.

The others didn't reply, only exchanged concerned looks again. Sam was chewing on her lip, finally looking at General Landry.

"Sir, permission to leave?"

"Of course. We meet in 15 minutes." Replied the General, leaving the gateroom as well.

The rest of SG1 and the scientific team followed, leaving everyone else present, including Vala, speechless and confused.

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Vala and the General were waiting for exactly 13 minutes, when the members of the scientific team started to show up. A short while later, the three members of SG1 stepped in as well, first Teal'c, then Sam, to be followed by Cam. The last one to arrive was Daniel. He looked even angrier than he was in the gate room.

"How did the check up go?" Asked general Landry, invoking the standard question to begin the meeting.

"We are fine, sir." Replied Cam.

They all sat around the table. It was very odd for the General to see SG1 in such a grim mood, especially after they left Earth only an hour ago to make new friends. The tension in the air was almost tangible.

"So, Col. Michell, would you be so kind now to tell us what happened?"

"It's a rather…delicate matter sir." Said Cam carefully, and then sighed.

"Ok, I won't delay the subject. The inhabitants of PX752 have…'lost' their most revered artifact, the sacred mace. They claim one of us has stolen it. They refuse to continue our dialogue until we return what we've stolen." Mitchell was staring at the table as if wanting to burn a hole into it. This situation was awkward for all of them.

"That's nonsense. How did they come to such a conclusion?" Asked the General surprised and disconcerted.

"They have a witness, sir." Said Sam.

Teal'c took over. "A young man we met on the planet called Tabuti says he saw Vala Mal Doran take the mace out of his original placement."

"WHAT?" Shouted Vala in outrage.

"Why do they think miss Mal Doran stole the artifact? Do they have any proof of their statement?" Continued General Landry oblivious to Vala's indignant face.

"The hell they have! That's a big fat lie! I didn't do anything!" Interrupted Vala.

"Miss Mal Doran. These accusations are very serious. If you won't stop interrupting, I will have to ask you to leave this room, understood?" Said the General strictly. Vala didn't answer, but didn't say a word either, which was taken in as a sign of agreement.

"Now,…" Continued the General. "…would you be so kind as to continue Col. Carter."

"The boy indeed says he saw Vala take the artifact, sir."

"Why didn't he report her earlier?"

"Well, he claims that he hid himself away till Vala turned the corner, then came out of his hiding place and tried to get outside as quickly as possible. But, since the town hall is rather big, he said that by the time he got outside, we had already left the planet. Since his people didn't have our address, they needed to wait before we showed up again."

"Col. Mitchell, do you believe the boy speaks the truth?"

"Well…" Mitchell didn't dare to look at Vala. "…I don't see any reason he would lie."

"But we still believe that this is all some kind of misunderstanding, sir." He added hastily.

"Is there any possible reason why the boy or the council itself would accuse us on purpose?"

"It's possible, sir."

"Sir, I am sure there is a reasonable explanation for this." Said Sam.

"Miss Mal Doran, why do you think they would accuse you?"

"I don't know…" said, Vala defiantly. "…maybe the kid just likes to lie!"

"Miss Mal Doran!" Said the General, raising his voice again.

"I am speaking the truth, whereas Tabuti IS lying, and I don't really care why. Maybe the councilors changed their minds about the deal, maybe I have insulted them in some way, how am I supposed to know?" She flung her hands up in the air.

"Col. Mitchell, is there no way to reason with the council over this?"

"I am afraid not General. They are convinced that Vala did steal the mace. They demanded our help and a proper investigation of the thievery. They also requested our address and we had to leave a code device back there, so they could visit us and ask about our conclusion to the investigation. In accordance with our findings, they would decide what to do next."

General Landry directed his attention to the leading commander of the scientific team, Major Hall.

"Major, you were there. What do you think about the whole issue?"

"Under the circumstances sir, I believe that there is no other way. Either we find the mace somehow…" she shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "or there will be no deal and we will make another enemy, that had the potential to become a great ally."

"You were in the chamber when everyone else was at the celebration…Why did you go in there?" Asked Daniel all of a sudden. His voice was calm, yet rather cold, addressing Vala.

"You know the reason Daniel, I had a strong headache. I wanted to go somewhere quiet, where I could rest." Vala said briskly, trying to control her temper that threatened to explode, and even she knew that wouldn't do much good.

"And yet, when I entered the room, you were cursing, and crawling on your knees. You were very secretive when I asked you what you were doing. Didn't look like you were resting, to me." He made a short pause.

"Admit it Vala, you were restless the moment you saw the mace. And right before the departure, you suddenly needed to go to the ladies room, which is just a corridor or two away from the treasure chamber. You told me not to wait for you; instead, you came out running in the few minutes, all happy and cheery. And when you shook the mayor's hand, you used your left hand, because you were squeezing something small tight in your right hand." His voice was still menacingly calm.

Vala breathed heavily, trying to hold herself back. Then, she said in the most peaceful and reasonable voice she could muster.

"I wasn't restless because of the mace. I was restless because I had lost something on that planet and I was looking for it. I found it just in time to return to the gate. That's why I was so cheery. I was grasping the lost object in my hand, not the mace." She gave him a challenging look.

"So you lied." Noted Daniel coldly.

"About what?" Asked Vala in confusion.

"You didn't have a headache at all. You went into the town hall on purpose."

"Well, ok, so I lied about that one. That still doesn't make me a thief." She said impatiently, throwing her hands in the air and rolling her eyes.

"No. It 'only ' makes you a liar." Stated Daniel, returning her challenging look.

"I didn't steal the mace Daniel. Think what you want, but I believe I've already proven myself as much to you." Said Vala, her tone becoming lightly hostile.

The others were just staring at them as if watching a tennis match, nobody daring to speak up and step into their little exchange. Not even the General dared to intervene. He didn't think it to be necessary at the moment. He knew that if somebody could get the truth out of Vala, it would be Daniel.

"Why didn't you mention your loss to me earlier? I could have helped." Asked Daniel pretending to be casual.

"Because it was none of your damn business!" Said Vala angrily. Daniel's started to lose his nerves.

"You are getting yourself into a big deal of trouble with this you know." He snapped.

No response. She was obstinate, and he knew that. She would never reveal something she wanted to be kept secret, but right now was not the time to play games with him. He had finally lost his temper.

"Tell us the truth Vala. What were you doing in the treasure chamber? Why didn't you tell anybody what was going on?"

"I've told you, I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG, I DID NOT STEAL! Everything else is my private business, so stay out of it!" She shouted at him.

"I can't believe this! This isn't an argument about a bike that's been stolen from a backyard Vala! And this certainly isn't the right time to play games and be secretive!" Snapped Daniel. Vala gave him an incredulous look.

"I am not playing any games Daniel! I just DIDN'T steal that peace of junk!"

"Maybe not, but your behavior blew off an interplanetary treaty. And still, you sit here looking like you couldn't care less!"

"No, Daniel, I saved you from closing a deal with a bunch of liars. You should be thanking me!"

Daniel had had enough.

"Oh, this is so typical of you! Everyone else is a cheater and a liar, except for you! This is SERIOUS Vala! You have been accused of the theft of an entire culture's most sacred object!"

"The accusations are false!"

"Oh, even if that were true, well, you didn't exactly help repel any suspicion, did you? In fact, you got us into this whole mess! You claim you had lost something and had gone looking for it, yet you lied to us about it. If what you've said were really true, you should have shared it with us; you know we would have helped you. But no, you had to deal with the situation on your own, no matter what the costs were. You didn't even take a second to think about how your actions could influence the rest of us as well. You are reckless, selfish and egocentric. You could have simply told us, but no, why bother? You can do it best yourself! Now, we are screwed, and still, you don't give a damn. You even dare to mock us about the entire escapade! Can you ever take responsibility for your actions, Vala? Will you ever stop acting on your own and start cooperating with us? Or will you keep playing games with us forever? When will you stop fooling around with us and start behaving like an adult? 'Cause you see, I am already sick and tired of your reckless behavior by now."

There was silence. Nobody dared to speak up. Nobody had ever seen Doctor Jackson to act like this before. Not even Sam or Teal'c. The stoic face of the Jaffa was replaced by raised eyebrows, with his head slightly tilted to the side. Daniel Jackson wasn't a person to act irrationally, the Jaffa knew that very well.

"Are you finished or shall I prepare for round two?" Asked Vala coldly for appearances' sake, but her voice failed her, being far more emotional than she wished it to. Daniel words really shook her. She thought they were over the I-fool-you-before-you-fool-me game by now. Then suddenly, a thought struck her. She gave a small bitter laugh.

"Oh, I get it. This isn't about the mace anymore, is it Daniel?" Vala asked quietly, but menacingly.

"What on Earth are you talking about now?" Asked Daniel wearily. He was indeed, not in the mood to play any games.

"It's about the kiss, isn't it?" She stated simply, but firmly. Everybody around the table exchanged surprised and bemused looks, which all ended up on Daniel.

"WH-WH-WHAT?!?" Stuttered Daniel in outrage, his cheeks getting slightly pink.

"You are just angry at me because yesterday in the forest, I kissed you just in order to take advantage of you, isn't it so? You are not trying to find the truth here, you are simply accusing me because you feel offended I fooled you!" She stated disgustedly.

"Oh no Vala, I see where are you going with this, but it's not gonna work this time. Don't try to change the subject and shift the blame to me. You screwed up and I certainly won't let you wrench yourself free from the consequences!"

Daniel was furious. How dare she drag their private matters in front of half the SGC? In front of Mitchell, Sam, and Teal'c? In front of the General? Daniel lost the last piece of self-restraint that was left in him.

"Now let me guess." He said wryly.

"You don't want to tell us what the mysterious lost object was, because there is not such thing as a lost belonging of yours. Or wait, maybe you have indeed lost something, and let me guess, it is small and shiny. It's made of gold, with a little transparent stone attached to it, because of course, it's ALWAYS something precious that catches your treasure-hunting eye. You ' found it', so you naturally labeled it as yours. Am I right?" Said Daniel ruthlessly, although he knew he wasn't making much sense.

"Even if it were so, it would be none you your damn business!" Vala snapped back.

"Ok, so you claim you didn't steal the mace?" Said Daniel, his voice suddenly changed to a calm and careless one.

"YES!" Snapped Vala again, her eyes narrowed.

"You won't mind then, if we search your quarters." He said coolly, challenging her with his gaze.

"The hell I will!!!" She said, her voice rising again.

Daniel knew exactly that he was now making formal accusations, and demanding to break Vala's privacy without any real proof. He knew that he was crossing the very last line that had ever existed between them, but he didn't care anymore. He felt responsible for her, for all of her stupid reckless actions. He held himself responsible for her, and he thought that the entire SGC held him responsible for Vala as well. After all, he was the one who had convinced the General to let her in. And now she had broken that trust without even wincing. He was sick of the whole affair, he just wanted to get this over with and then crawl somewhere deep and dark for the rest of his life. He wasn't nearly as brave as he pretended to be, and he knew he couldn't stand the confrontation much longer. He needed to get out of there, ASAP.

"If you didn't steal the mace, then why are you so strongly against a search? It would prove your innocence."

"Because it's my private stuff, Daniel! I won't let ANYONE dig their filthy noses into my private belongings!"

At this point, General Landry finally stepped in. He had had enough. If he didn't do something quickly, the headache that started a few minutes ago would be the least thing on his mind. He made a decision.

"I am afraid, that under the circumstances, we don't have another choice, miss Mal Doran. The council wants their artifact back. Either we find it and return it, or prove their accusations wrong."

"Sir, I don't think this…" Started Sam, but the General cut her off.

"I've already made my decision, Colonel."

Vala didn't look at the General. Her gaze was dedicated only to Daniel, burning a hole into him.

"Is this really what you want Daniel?" She asked, her voice finally getting a bit shaky.

"No Vala. This is certainly no what I want. But you aren't leaving us any choice." He said quietly, all the rage disappearing from his voice. He was too tired to continue fighting.

"Fine. Do it. But you are wrong Daniel. You had a choice. You could have simply trusted me." She turned to the others, yet addressed the General specifically.

"If it were Sam, Mitchell, or Teal'c facing the same predicament, you wouldn't have even considered such an accusation to be true. By treating me as a known felon, you've simply shown, that no matter what I say or do, I will never be an equal part of your little elite club. Now, if you'll excuse me, I am going to the gym, while you complete rummaging through my stuff. I am certainly in the mood for punching things, especially if I can imagine the sandbag were you, Daniel!"

With that she left the room, leaving all the others to their thoughts, the truth of her words slowly sinking in.

Before anyone else could react to what they just heard, Daniel jumped up and left the room without a word as well.

TBC

_AN – ok, this was very nasty, I know. I somehow looked forward to writing this chapter, now I simply can't understand why. After rewriting the conversation over and over and over again, I really feel like crap. See, this chapter is a bit angsty, which may be due to the lack of reviews from you ppl!;) Oh no, don't worry, just joking. Still, you never know…so better send one!:) It definitely makes me high, and that means more fluff in my story:D_

_Ok, now enough of me, let me know what you think, but pls, no life-threating posts, in means of the sudden change of the plot. ;)_


	6. Pendant and Dogtags

**Summary** – Since you made it till here, I believe you already know all you need to know. :) Have fun.

**Sandra – **Hmm, co ti povedat…PRECITAJ SI TO LASKAVO ESTE RAZ CELE, KDE SI TO NEPAMATAS:))))

**Dawnie – **Thanx for the nice reviews. And don't feel bad for not reviewing earlier, we all have our lives with many obligations and little free time. That's why we read fiction, don't we? ;)

**Leenie – I love you, girl! You are my saviour!:)**

**ALL others –**Thanx to all who read and reviewed. I was so happy to find so many great and sweet reviews, many of them being thoughful and expressing your opinions on my story. You have it a bit of thought and I am very grateful for that. THANX! As usual - RER – read – enjoy – review. Cos I LOOOOVE FEEDBACK! But yiou already know, don't you? ;)

**Reviews – **This is the place where to thank you all who reviewed, so:

**Killerbees, Barbie2, Sokorra Lewis, Sandra, Shinki, Hazmot, Dawnie, Purple Pebble, Abydonian, Briar Elwood, Angelfire East 24, Emili, Leenie, ****Slinky-and-the-BloodyWands****SciFOXcraven****, livestar, ****Padfoot-001****QuasiOuster****mg Sheppard****, Jena, kp and ****TubaPrincess**

**THANK YOU ALL! I LOVE YOU GUYS! **For all of you, here is the new chapter!

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 5 – Pendant and Dog Tags

Sam found her exactly where she had told them she would be, the gym. Yet she was not punching the sand bag. In fact, Vala wasn't exercising at all. She was sitting on a mat in the far corner of the room. Her back was pressed against the wall and her arms were hugging her bent legs, allowing her head to rest comfortably at the top. The gym was empty, with all the lights switched off. Vala's eyes were gazing into the dark, looking at nothing in particular. When Sam entered, she didn't even acknowledge her presence.

"Kind of dark here, don't you think?"

"I like it dark." Replied Vala in an emotionless voice.

"May I?" Asked Sam, stepping closer to her, pointing at the mat as if asking for permission to sit down.

"Be my guest." Replied Vala, still without looking at Sam.

"I came to tell you that you may return to your quarters if you want." Said Sam carefully.

"That went quickly. Do you have some special personnel skilled at rummaging through other people's stuff?"

"Actually…" Began Sam, "…we didn't search your room. The General changed his mind."

"How come?" Asked Vala in a surprised but still reserved voice.

"You were right about what you said. If it were Teal'c, Mitchell, Daniel or me, the General wouldn't believe a word. You deserve the same treatment as the rest of us. You are a member of SGC now: you proved you deserved this position. That means not only having the same duties as us, but also sharing the same level of trust. The General decided to believe you. If you say you didn't steal the mace, he believes you really didn't."

Vala didn't respond, but a sign of comfort was visible on her face. Then she turned to Sam.

"What about you?"

"What about me?" Asked Sam in confusion.

"You said the General changed his mind. What about you?"

"I didn't." Said Sam. Vala gave a small bitter laugh.

"I see. Well, thanks for your honesty."

"I didn't change my mind, because I always believed you didn't steal the mace." Stated Sam simply. Vala gave her a surprised look.

"You don't believe I stole the mace?"

"I never have."

"Why?" Asked Vala in suspicion. She still couldn't tell if the Colonel was mocking her or being serious.

"I pride myself in being a scientist you know, and therefore purely rational, I see no probable cause, why you would throw away all you have been working so hard for in a glimpse of a second because of some small golden object." Said Sam sincerely.

Vala knew there was more to Sam's explanation. It was something that can't be expressed in words. She could sense a genuine trust in her. She gave Sam a small smile.

"Thank you."

Sam returned the smile. "You're welcome." Then she though for a second, before asking a question that was on her mind since the debriefing.

"May I ask you something, Vala?"

"You know you can. Yet I don't guarantee you an answer." However, she gave Sam an encouraging smile.

"What did you lose on the planet? The thing you have been looking for?"

Sam could sense Vala's discomfort at the question. She looked as if struggling with herself whether to tell Sam the truth, or not. Finally, with a heavy sigh she gave in. She slipped her hand under her black shirt, pulling out a tiny round golden pendant on a chain from underneath it. She stretched out her hand towards Sam, so she could have a better look. Sam took it carefully, bringing in near her face so she could study the engraving. She could tell the writing was in ancient, yet she couldn't decipher the meaning. Vala saw Sam's struggle with the alien letters and decided to help her out.

"It reads: _"From T. to V."_ I got it from Tomin. He gave it to me a few days after I told him I was pregnant." Vala said in a quiet voice.

"I know it's silly I am still carrying it around. I always knew my time with him would be just temporary. Nevertheless, at that time, I loved him…in a way. He was the first person I met who didn't judge me. I know that I may not see him again. And even if so, things aren't the same anymore. But I don't want to forget the time we shared. It taught me a lot. It also reminds me what we are fighting for." Vala gave a sad smile, and then continued.

"When we went to the feast, I suddenly realized it was missing from my neck. I must have lost it somewhere, but I didn't know where. Since the treasure chamber was the last place I had been in, I pretended to have a headache in order to go searching for it. I looked all around the mace's pedestal and also searched the entire chamber. I searched every inch but I still couldn't find it. By the way, the mace was still in its place at that time. That's when Daniel found me. He asked me what I was doing and I…I simply couldn't tell him. I don't know why, I just…didn't want him to know. Maybe because there's a part of me I don't want him to know about. Yet." She sighed again, before continuing once more.

"So I followed him outside, angry and disappointed that I may have lost the pendant forever. However, on our way outside, another thought occurred to me. The treasure chamber was not the only place we had been inside that day."

"The rest rooms!" Interrupted Sam.

"Exactly. So I told Daniel not to wait for me and ran straight towards them, where I finally found this…" She pointed at the pendant, "…lying on the floor. I grabbed it and ran outside. I didn't even pass the treasure chamber. The mace must have been stolen at that precise moment."

"You should have told us Vala. It would have made things easier for you."

"No. Sam, this is the last personal thing I posses. And I definitely don't want half the SGC to know. It's sorta a weakness of mine. And it's none of their business. Besides, they wouldn't have understood. I mean…my relationship with Tomin is over, but still, we've spent a nice time together, time I don't want to forget." She said in a gloomy voice.

"Maybe they would understand. Vala, everybody at this base has family or friends out there he cares for. It's not a weakness."

Vala didn't reply, but she didn't seem convinced. Sam sighed.

"Ok. Now I am going to tell you something, but you've gotta promise me you won't tell anybody else."

Vala's head shot up, and her eyes sparkled.

"A secret? I am all ears."

Sam too slipped her hand underneath her shirt, pulling out her dog tags and holding them in front of Vala's face. Along with the tags, there was also a small diamond ring attached to the chain. Vala took it carefully from Sam's hands.

"Is this what I think it is?" She asked in a shocked voice. Sam said nothing, but gave her a mischievous smile and a small nod.

"It's from General O'Neill, isn't it?" Asked Vala. Now, it was Sam's turn to be surprised.

"How do you…?"

"Oh, c'mon! I may be an alien but I'm definitely not an idiot." Laughed Vala.

"You should see that dreamy look on your face every time the guys mention him."

Sam blushed. "Do you think the guys know as well?" She asked.

Vala laughed louder.

"You kidding? They are men. Of course they don't suspect a thing! Maybe except of Teal'c. I think Teal'c knows."

"Really?! Teal'c?!" Asked Sam astounded.

"Yeah. I mean, he didn't say it or anything, but I have the feeling he really knows. You know, it's funny. Teal'c and I - aliens - beat Cam and Daniel on this one." Vala gave her a wide grin. Sam concentrated her look again on the dog tags.

"May I ask you another question?" Asked Sam carefully.

"Go ahead."

"Well…in the debriefing room, you mentioned…that you and Daniel…"

"…kissed?" Finished Vala for Sam.

"Yes."

"It's true. But it was of no importance. He pinned me down, so I didn't have any other option of getting free besides distracting him." Said Vala in a careless tone, yet Sam could see there may be more to it and that it may not be of such small importance as Vala tried to pretend.

"I would never have imagined he would be the one to believe it was true. The theft I mean." Said Vala with a sad smile.

"You know, he didn't, at first. He defended you in front of the council. But then they brought Tabuti, claimed they had evidence, the councilors were saying the treaty was off…"

"I always imagined that if something like this would have happened, he would be the only one to defend me. To trust me. I see I was absolutely wrong about that. It's you sitting here with me, not him." She said in a quiet voice.

"Vala, I think Daniel will see reason soon. Now, he is just upset about the outcome. Just give him some time." Suggested Sam carefully.

"No. He's had his chance. He could have trusted me, instead, he chose otherwise." Replied Vala angrily.

"Vala…" Tried Sam again, but Vala cut her off.

"No Sam. Please, no more talk about Daniel, alright? This is something between me and him."

There was a short silence.

"I think I should go." Said Vala, "I need to see the doc to clear me for the mission tomorrow."

She jumped to her feet and made her way towards the door of the gym. At the threshold, however, she stopped and turned back to Sam.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Everything."

Then, she added. "Oh, and don't worry. Your secret will not leave this room."

With that, she left the room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Daniel was sitting at the desk in his lab, staring into his computer, trying to decipher some old writings SG12 has found a few weeks ago on a deserted planet. Yet, the only thing he could think about was the debriefing. He was furious about what Vala did. She had humiliated him in front of the whole room. He certainly wasn't angry about that stupid kiss. He knew exactly that she didn't mean it, didn't he? He sighed. Anyway, she had no right jump at him like that. She got them into great trouble, and not just because of the theft, but because of her whole attitude. When would she finally stop acting on her own? She was still as reckless as she had been on the day he met her. Yet now, it was HIM to be blamed for her actions.

"May I enter, Daniel Jackson?" Asked a deep voice at the door. Daniel jumped and quickly looked around.

"Oh, hello Teal'c. You startled me. Of course, come in." He tried to sound casual, but he was not in the mood to see or talk to anybody.

"What brings you here? Can I somehow help you?" He asked the tall Jaffa, trying to indicate that we wanted to keep his visit professional and get over with it as quickly as possible. However, Teal'c didn't seem to catch the hint.

"You seemed angry when you left the briefing room. I came by to ascertain your wellbeing."

"I am fine." Said Daniel unconvincingly.

"I also came to inform you, that general Landry ordered not to search the quarters of Vala Mal Doran."

"What changed his mind?" Asked Daniel in surprise, for a brief second hoping that the General gained some proof Vala was not guilty.

"Vala Mal Doran's words seem to be of a great importance to him. He believes that she was right when she indicated she was not getting the same treatment as the rest of us." Daniel sighed, his hopes suddenly gone.

"That's the point. She always wants to get special treatment." Said Daniel sarcastically.

"Are you still angry at her?" Asked Teal'c.

"Of course I am Teal'c! Look at the mess she got us into!" Howled Daniel.

"Is it so because of the mace, or the intimate contact you two have shared?"

Daniel's ears turned red.

"There is NO intimate contact we shared Teal'c! She just tricked me and used it to her advantage." He said sighing again.

"Certainly nothing new." He added quietly.

"I see." Said the Jaffa, yet his tone was clearly dubious.

"Right. Ok, look Teal'c…." Said Daniel irritably, thinking of what to say to the Jaffa. Then he changed his mind about it, since he didn't exactly knew what to tell him. Damn, he didn't understand it himself.

"See, I gotta see doc Flansbury with these." He grabbed some papers with ancient writings from the table.

"I promised her to return them quickly. I hope you don't mind leaving you here alone." With that, he hastily ran out of his office without waiting for an answer, leaving a pensive Teal'c behind.

"Indeed."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Enter!" Shouted a strong voice from behind the door, so Mitchell opened it and stepped into the General's office.

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Have a seat, Colonel." The General pointed at the chair in front of his desk, waiting for Cam to sit down before he started to talk again.

"I wanted to know, if you think it's a good idea to let SG1 go to the scheduled mission tomorrow."

"Sir, why do you think it to be a bad idea?"

"Well, under the circumstances, I believe doctor Jackson and miss Mal Doran aren't getting on very well. Don't you think it could be problem? Quarrels on your team?"

"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think so. I've seen Daniel and Vala fighting on many occasions. It's almost a ritual to them. Besides, we are going to an uninhabited planet with no serious danger. I personally believe it could be a good opportunity for the two of them to return to their normal terms again. You know, work and everything…"

"So you believe you can handle them? Or better said – her? We both know she is a bit unpredictable and that the only person she really listens to is Doctor Jackson."

"I believe we are going to be fine, sir."

"Alright then. You have a go. Dismissed."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."

With that, Mitchell got up and left the General's office.

TBC

_AN – Ok, this one is a connecting one, not much happens, but I wanted to show the bad spirits before the actual mission to the ice planet. And yes, next chapter will finally deal with the event of the prologue. I also wanted to show that Vala and Sam, as the two females on the team, can not only be friends in good times (the snowball fight), but also in bad times. _

_Review pls, Love feedback. Hope to see you soon. Take care all, especially those ones who start their new semester at college or uni._


	7. Yes and No

**Summary** – Since you made it till here, I believe you already know all you need to know. :) Have fun.

**Sandra – **S(L)AVE WHALES:)))) inak, upozornujem ze tento jeden, hoci mne sa paci, moze istym ludom pripadat…ehm..pateticky, ale ja au tak dufam, ze ty jako vecna romaticka preklenies klise a nakoniec sa ti to bude pacit. Snad. :)

**Leenie – **Gotta love you more and more! Thanx to you is this story becoming better and better. KISS!

**ALL others –**Thanx to all who read and especially those who reviewed. I was so happy to find so many great and sweet reviews, many of them being thoughtful and expressing opinions on my story. You gave it a bit of though and I am very grateful for that. THANX!

BTW, We are nearing the number 50 of reviews! I am overwhelmed!!!THANK YOU ALL! Your reviews keep me going!

As usual - RER – read – enjoy – review. Cos I LOOOOVE FEEDBACK! But you already know, don't you? ;)

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 6 – Yes and No

It was exactly 8 o'clock in the morning when SG-1 stepped through the wormhole. Not that it would matter much. At the end of the event horrizon awaited a completely different world that had it's own time and space rules anyway, so having a watch or checking time was absolutely unnecessary. Yet, for Daniel, it meant something. Exactly 24 hours ago, he was a happy unconcerned man, who was preparing for a mission in good spirits. A mission that should get Earth a bunch of new friends, but no, instead, it had gone completely wrong. And the one person responsible for all of that was now stepping through this wormhole with him, without bothering about the events that happened on the previous day. Yeah. Everything seemed normal about his relationship with Vala. Except for the little detail that the two of them weren't talking to each other.

Yet, Daniel was partially wrong on one account. The one person he held responsible was not really responsible. At least not for what Daniel thought this person might have done. And there was also a second thing, one on which Daniel was completely wrong. Vala may have acted as if nothing had happened the previous day, yet her insides were boiling with anger, hurt, fury and disappointment. Every now and then, one of these feelings would overcome her, only to be replaced by another in a short period of time. Hurt was the most predominant one, though.

The five members od SG-1 were standing half-knees up in snow. The wormhole behind them closed and now the only sound that could be heard was the scowling of chilly wind. Daniel stepped to the DHD, making a quick observation of the signs on the panel.

"Everything alright here." He said with narrowed eyes. It was a wonderful chilly day, the sky was blue and the sun shining. However, it was an unpleasant thing, hence the strong sunlight bounced of the snow, literally blinding them.

"Ok then. 10 bucks that we go…." Cam pointed out his finger in the direction ahead of him, "straight ahead," he finished, putting on his sunglasses.

Teal'c gave his compass a quick glance.

"I am afraid you are wrong Col. Mitchell. We have to go in the exact opposite direction."

"Damn! Close enough." Cursed Mitchell. Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

"I will visit your office and collect my winnings after our homecoming." Said Teal'c in the most serious voice.

Cam gave a shocked face. He definitely didn't expect the Jaffa to take his bet seriously, but he didn't dare speak up. Sam bit her lips to suppress the wide grin that threatened to escape them. Cam still hadn't learned that Teal'c was not one to joke around. At least not after Jack had taught him how to win or lose a bet. At the memory, she smiled inwardly, a warm sensation spreading through her chest.

They five turned around and started off, on their way towards the rocky mountains they had been told lay somewhere ahead. None of the remaining two members of the team acknowledged the little exchange between Cam and Teal'c and their stolid looks slowly spread over the others as well. There was an uncomfortable silence, which was very untypical for SG-1, since the five of them always chattered about anything they could come up with and then laughed at Mitchell's goofy jokes and Vala's teasing of Daniel. Not today though. The only sound that could be heard was the crunching of snow underneath their feet.

As they were passing a frozen lake, Cam decided to use this opportunity to start a conversation.

"So! Can anyone tell me why the report states we should stay away from the lakes?"

Silence. Daniel didn't catch the lure. Or he just didn't want to, so Sam stepped in.

"Well, SG-7 mentioned some unusual earth quake activity probably caused by the thermal water streams underground."

"And what exactly is THAT supposed to mean?"

"I believe what they meant was that now and then, we may feel the earth shaking slightly, caused by the streams of hot water underground."

"You tellin' me that underneath all this snow and ice actually lie streams of hot water?" Asked Cam incredulously. Sam gave him a bright smile and nodded.

"Wow!"

"Wow, indeed! Doctor Cass assumes that apart from the freezing water in the lakes, there are some areas where underground hot streams flow upwards and mix with the cold water. That's also why SG-7 recommended us to stay away from the lakes. The ice covering them looks pretty stable, but you can never be sure when there might be some hot streams underneath. With the occasional earth quakes, it's probably best we stay off the ice." She shrugged and then gave a laugh at the memory of her scientist colleagues.

"Doctor Cass can't wait to come here and examine the lakes. And you should have seen the faces of the geologists when they heard they had to postpone their research until we were done looking for the remains of possible ancient cultures. They were furious!" Sam gave another laugh.

"I don't believe those geeks are capable of producing real fury!" Cam waved his hand dismissingly.

"Hey!" Said Sam half jokingly, half offended.

"Of course I didn't mean you! You are NOT a geek! You are …brainy!"

Sam gave him a disbelieving look, then turned to Teal'c. "What about you Teal'c? Do you also think I'm a geek?"

"Certainly I do not. Yet I have to concur with Col. Mitchell. You are the smartest human I believe I have ever met."

Sam blushed.

"Gee, thanks Teal'c. What about you guys?" She addressed the remaining two members of their team, trying to somehow pull them into the conversation. Yet, she had to almost shout the second sentence, since the two of them were both plucked away from the main group. Daniel was a few feet ahead of them, focusing all his energy into maintaining a quick pace. And on the contrary, Vala was a few feet behind.

Both of them were probably deep in their thoughts, since no one answered Sam's question. She sighed but continued with the conversation as if nothing happened.

"Pretty chilly out here, isn't it?"

"Yeah! I am already freezing my butt off. Pretty nippy!"

Then, he bent closer to Sam and muttered: "And I don't mean just the weather." He pointed his head in Daniel direction, then looked behind himself at Vala.

"How long do you think this may last?"

Sam shrugged. "I have no idea. I've known Daniel for ten years, but I've never seen him as furious as this." She shot Cam a worried look.

"Ya think it's that serious? He looks pretty composed to me."

"Trust me, It's not just the streams underground boiling..." Cam sighed heavily, then decided it was time for them to once again stick together.

"Hey Jackson. Jackson!" Shouted Mitchell at Daniel, who had enforced such a quick pace, that they were already nearing the rocky mountains in their attempt to keep up with him. Daniel stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"Could you please hold on? It's not like the rocks are going anywhere." Daniel pulled an annoyed face. This was not the right time to crack O'Neill jokes, although he knew it was not Cam's intention to do so.

They all caught up with him and waited a second for Vala to catch up with them in turn. Yet, even though she saw they were all waiting for her, she didn't hurry. On the contrary, she seemed to reduce her pace even more. Cam knew she was doing it on purpose, as well as he knew why Daniel had set up such brutal tempo.

Vala finally joined them and this time, they all continued forward at an equal pace. But, silence pervaded once more.

They rocky area was not more that 50 feet away and Cam could see that despite his outward aloofness, the nearer they came to the rocky valley, the more excited Daniel grew. Even in his anger, he could not mask his excitement when thinking about the possibilities that lay in front of him.

They finally arrived at the spot. Suddenly to their right, from underneath the ground, they could see vast masses of stone and rock emerging to form a maze of passageways, caves and natural objects. On their left lay yet another frozen lake, whose shores continued to outline the rocky area, until some 100 feet ahead, where the lake ended, and the rocks formed a cliff over the lake.

"You guys realize this would be a the perfect retreat for people if the lake wasn't frozen, don't you think?" Said Sam excitedly.

"The edges of the lake follow the rocks very closely, leaving only a short passageway between them. The lake only ends some 100 feet ahead, where it finally joins the rocks. It would make a perfect shelter. You are protected from one side by water, on the other side by rocky mountains." She gave them a meaningful look.

"Indeed." Said Teal'c.

"So what you guys are saying is…" Said Mitchell

"…that if a civilization ever existed on this planet, maybe thousands of years ago, before this ice age took over, the rocky enclosure would have been the ideal place to live." Finished Daniel thoughtfully yet excitedly.

He finally found his words again, his mind, for a while, suppressing the unpleasant thoughts that had festered within it. He knew that at least as long as his mind was switched to work-mode, he could subdue the disturbing notions and doubts that had eaten him alive since yesterday.

"You-you see, there might be some great historical artifacts in those caves. If the ice age came unexpectedly, the people wouldn't have any time to react or adapt. They would have frozen to death before they could find a solution to survive the cold. So …" Daniel pushed his thoughts even further, "…the ice would have preserved all the remnants of their civilization. You understand where I am going with this? This place could be the source of great findings! Artifacts that are so well preserved are priceless!" beamed Daniel with sparkling eyes.

At that point, Vala gave a small but very audible snort.

"Well, I wouldn't use the word "priceless". We'll probably only find some junk, equipment, pottery and such."

Cam, Sam, even Teal'c knew she didn't intend her words to sound as bad as they did. It was so like her to say something extremely thoughtless. On a different occasion, they would have all shared a laugh, and Daniel would have probably shot something ironic and teasing back at her.

But not this time. To Daniel, it was like a slap in the face. After all the recent events, how did she have the guts to mock him and mock the work that was most sacred to him?

"Yes. Definitely nothing for you Vala. Such junk wouldn't catch your sticky fingers, would it?" He shot back coldly. There was no trace of joviality in his tone.

"What?" She asked wide-eyed.

His cold, accusing tone took her by surprise. She was indeed angry with him for the previous day, for not trusting her and accusing her of theft, but she hadn't meant to worsen the tension with what she had said. She had blurted it out without thinking about it really. Wasn't he being too pompous thinking that everything she said or did concerned him in some way? Her world didn't consist solely of Daniel Jackson after all!

"You are being a bit touchy today, don_'_t you think?" Asked Vala in a slow tone, her eyes narrowing.

"Guys…" Stepped in Sam, her tone attempting to placate the situation.

"Gee, I don't know, do I look touchy to you? I'm sorry; I definitely didn't want to hurt your feelings Vala. If you had any, that is." Said Daniel mockingly. His voice and nerves were clearly on edge.

"Why do you have to be such a moron, Daniel? Damn, how do you even dare to talk to me like that?! The way you behaved yesterday, it should be ME to be angry with you!" Vala shot back.

Cam stepped in between the two of them before Daniel got a chance to reply.

"Hey! Stop that! Both of you! Jeez …" He sighed. "Can we discuss this at home?"

"NO!" Was the simultaneous answer.

"Please, don't force me to make it an order." Pleaded Cam in despair.

"I am afraid you can't order them, Col. Mitchell, they both are civilians." Said Teal'c in an almost explanatory voice.

"Gee Teal'c, thanks for the back up!" Breathed Cam in an ironic tone.

Teal'c was silent. He hated disputes of every sort.

Vala and Daniel were both glaring at each other, each of them thinking about words that would hurt the other more. Sam saw the danger of the situation and tried to stop its escalation.

"Ok guys, we all know that you are angry at each other and that's ok. But I am afraid that right now, you are not thinking clearly, and you feel like you have to prove something to one other, but please, stop being so stubborn and step down."

The two of them were still looking at each other challengingly, but then, a dose of reality sobered them up in some way, causing both to ease up and turn away.

At that point, everything could have ended up just fine if Daniel hadn't, for whatever reason he couldn't recall afterwards, let out one last sniping remark.

"I am definitely not the one whose stubbornness usually gets us in trouble." He mumbled angrily, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Vala turned abruptly, giving him a contemptuous look.

"Is this how you fight Daniel? Attack from behind?"

Cam gave a despairing cry.

"I've finally learned something from you, didn't I?" Said Daniel, knowing his words had no other purpose but provoking Vala.

Vala growled, giving an angry howl. Everybody except Daniel found it more than troubling.

"So you think I'm stubborn, huh?" Asked Vala in a quiet, menacing tone. "Alright then. I'll show you stubborn."

At that point, she set out straight towards the lake and continued without hesitation onto the ice.

"Vala! What the hell are you doing? Get your ass back here, ASAP!" Shouted Mitchell, but she didn't care. She continued her pace, until she was about 20 feet across the lake, then stopped and turned around.

"Vala, stop it! Come back, this won't prove anything, you are just endangering yourself!" Shouted Sam in despair.

"Your actions are most unwise, Vala Mal Doran!" Added Teal'c.

Even Daniel got uneasy. "Vala, come back! You have no idea what you're doing! Stop being foolish and come back!"

"Oh, but that's the main problem with me, isn't it Daniel? Me being foolish, reckless, disobedient, stubborn and always the troublemaker, right?"

"You know what, Vala? YES! That's EXACTLY the problem with you. You are always more trouble than worth. Now, look at yourself! Look at what you are doing! You think you are making a point? No! The only thing you're really doing now is getting into trouble. Again!"

His words sounded cold, but his insides were clenched. This was not funny anymore. If there were some hot stream underneath the spot she was standing, the ice might not hold her weight and could break. Yet, she did not flinch. Either she was completely insane, or making her point, whatever that might be, was so important to her that she was willing to risk her life for it.

Daniel knew that he would achieve nothing with this kind of attitude. She wouldn't move an inch.

Vala, on the other hand, knew that if she returned to the solid ground now, the others would rebuke her and make the two of them stop fighting. And she wanted to solve this now and for all. Not later, not tomorrow, or the day after, NOW.

Daniel saw he had no other choice and finally gave in with a deep sigh.

"Ok Vala, you made your point. I'am sorry and everything, ok? Now would you be so kind and come back here?" He said calmly, yet obviously not meaning a single word he said.

"What are you sorry for?" Shouted Vala defiantly back at Daniel.

"What?" Asked Daniel.

"Are you sorry you were wrong I stole the mace? Or are you sorry for something else and still believe I am quilty?" She asked firmly.

"Oh, so that's what all this is about?"

"No Vala, we trust you!" Cried Mitchell in despair. He wanted that bloody reckless chic back that instant, safely if possible.

"Indeed." Confirmed Teal'c, joining Cam.

"You know I do too, Vala." Said Sam knowingly.

"What about you Daniel?" Asked Vala.

"Vala, come back this instant! Don't make me come after you!" He avoided the answer.

"Yes or no, Daniel?" Her question was still firm, but her voice was shaking with emotion.

What did she want from him? What would it prove if he said yes? Daniel knew that the only rational thing to do would indeed be to say "yes". But he found he couldn't. She wanted an honest answer and he wouldn't lie. He wasn't sure she stole the mace. His doubts were stronger now than they had ever been, but it still wasn't enough to convince him completely. Daniel knew it was his emotional side speaking when thinking about her innocence, not his brain. He knew that his heart WANTED her to be innocent, but that didn't mean she truly was. And the thought of him deciding to believe her but being proven wrong in the end horrified the hell out of him. And so he chose a path somewhere in between – he wouldn't believe either way without proof. But he realized now it was this middle path that brought them here in the first place.

"Yes or no Daniel?" She asked again, but he could see her steady posture was slowly starting to fall apart.

All the events of the previous days crashed down on him. All the evidence against Vala…Tabuti's testimony…her startled look when he found her in the treasure chamber…he pinning her down to the ground during the snowfight…her shaking hands with the Mayor while holding something tight in the other…her face closing in on his own …her lips pressed against his own…

Suddenly the ground shook. Yet it was not the slight shake SG-7 mentioned might happen. It was a violent one that caught them all by surprise and caused them to fall down. Daniel looked up at the lake and saw Vala had fallen as well. Her body lay still, she seemed unconscious. Daniel wanted to get up, but another quake forced him down again. After several agonizing moments, the ground finally stopped shaking and Daniel and the rest managed to get up. They all started to call after Vala, who had obviously regained consciousness in the meantime, but seemed disorientated and languid, looking around her in confusion.

Daniel and the others didn't wait any longer. They all made their way towards the lake at once, but suddenly heard the most horrific sound, the sound of breaking ice. Vala seemed to recognize the danger as well, but she wasn't quick enough. Before anyone else could react, the ice around her broke and she disappeared into the dark water.

TBC

_AN – Ok, this was all a bit mean, but hey ppl,_ _YOU said you liked angst!:) Not that I would direct my story after your wishes, cos it lives on it's own, but anyway. :)_

_I won't_ _hold you up long this time, I just wanna let you know, that now with the school and everything, I might post more irregularly, with using every opportunity to write, but dunno, maybe I won't have time in weeks, I might have time 2morrow._

_But no matter what, I am NOT giving up on this story. I love it far too much. :)_

_Still, you don't need to worry that now I won't post for half a year or so, definitely NOT, Sandra will take care of that, woncha honey? ;) Just be prepared for possible longer paused between chapters._

_Ok, that's everything, and if you have time, pls don't forget to review._

_Dismissed!;)_


	8. Plan A and Plan B

**Summary** – Since you made it till here, I believe you already know all you need to know. :) Have fun.

**Sandra – **cauki. no koonecne! ver mi, ja som dokonca OVELA stastnejsia ako ty, ze som to konecne napisala. inak, prajem krasne statnice!!!;)

sorry,nemohla som si odpustit….sak mna o caka tiez…:(

**LEENIE – You are mi angel! Love you girl!**

**ALL others – **Firstly, my apologies to all, I know its been a while…well, ok, I GREAT while, but i really tried. Now the bad news, it might take another while to write the next one. nevertheles, i hope you will stay tuned and stick with me. :)

**HAZMOT and others as well**– Thank you so much for being so patient. Your mail really made me happy that there are ppl still waiting for my story to continue, yeti t made me sad at the same time, since I had let you guys wating so long. Hope it was worth to wait :)

ps – and sorry it took longer than the weekend. But still withing march! ;) However, a biiig SORRY for you.

Secondly, THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR THE GREAT REVIEWS!!! They all made my day and kept me going! we are over 60 now, so pls, keep them going. they are a great motivation. :)

And thirdly… Man! You people are soooo mean! You all wish so badly to finally see Daniel suffer..Am I the only one to defend the little guy?

Nah, youre all right! He deserves punishment!!!:))))

So now, you are free to read my new chapter. As usual - RER – read – enjoy – review. Cos I LOOOOVE FEEDBACK! But you already know, don't you? ;)

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 7 – „Plan A" and „Plan B"

Vala had never experienced such excruciating pain before. And she was used to pain. Yet, this pain was different. It couldn't be compared to any pain she had ever experienced. It made her wish she could just disappear, fizzle out into a speck of dust. She felt as though thousands of tiny sharp needles were digging into her body, down into her bones, into her very core. At the same time, the freezing water was pressing against her chest, preventing her from breathing. Her lungs suddenly found themselves without any air to support them. She fought hard to stay above the water, but she could feel with every second her limbs growing stiff. Her legs were heavy and lifeless and they started to pull her down. The more she fought, the more helpless she was and she sunk even deeper. After a short while, her head had definitely submersed beneath the surface and she could feel her lugs starting to fill with the unbearably cold water. Her mind was once again clear and alert, all the haze gone after first contact with the freezing water. But although her brain was screaming for help, her body wouldn't listen.

For a moment there, she thought this was the end.

Although all of her strength had dwindled, she was still trying to fight till the bitter end. But her body was failing her, refusing to listen to the simple commands of her mind. She could feel it slowly sinking deeper and deeper into the lake.

But just as she was about to accept the inevitable, Vala felt a strong grasp closing around her arm and somebody or something started to pull her up. She finally relaxed her exhausted muscles, praying for the grip not to let go.

Suddenly her head was above the water, causing her to do the only reasonable instinctive thing - gasp for breath. Yet she started to cough violently, spitting out all the water blocking her airways instead of getting fresh air into them. During this process, she could feel someone finally pulling her body out of the water and setting her down on an unbroken part of the ice.

Vala finally found a way to breathe, yet it was painful to do so. Her lungs were burning and she knew heat had little to do with it. She was still struggling to catch her breath while lying across the ice, not able to move, paralyzed with pain, cold, numbness and exhaustion.

She saw a dark figure lean over her, a person with a golden oval tattooed onto his forehead. She recognized the figure at once: it was Teal'c. That could mean only one thing: they had somehow managed to rescue her. She gave a great sigh of relief, finally allowing herself to fall into darkness.

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"I am afraid Vala Mal Doran has lost consciousness," Announced Teal'c.

"What? She blacked out?" A concerned voice said, bending over Vala's form. It belonged to Mitchell, who was clearly distressed yet relieved that they had managed to successfully retrieve her from the bloody lake. Yet without Teal'c…well, it was always great to have someone like Teal'c around.

"Ok, we have to act quickly now. Let's get her inside of one of those caves where she'll be sheltered from the wind. C'mon! Let's move it, people!"

Teal'c didn't need to be told twice. He scooped Vala's limp body into his arms and quickly made his way towards the nearest entrance to a cave that was in sight. The others followed him without a word, all of them obviously shaken by the sudden and unexpected twist of events.

Teal'c put Vala gently to the ground and stepped aside for Mitchell to take over. Cam knelt beside Vala's limp body and bent over to examine her. Then he pressed his fingers against her neck to check for a pulse. He found one alright, slow, but thankfully strong enough. He sighed with relief just as Vala started to stir, giving a soft groan.

"Vala?" Nothing.

"Vala… Hey!" He raised his voice a bit.

She started to open her eyes, but, her gaze was obviously confused and unfocused. She bent her head a bit so she could see the person calling her name.

"Hey sleeping beauty! Welcome back! You got us really scared." He said with a smile, trying to keep his voice casual so she wouldn't notice how worried he really was. However, the look she gave him made Cam quickly realize, that he had failed miserably. So instead, he turned around to face the others.

"Guys, she's come around!"

They all gathered closer hastily, Sam trying to give her friend a reassuring smile. Vala, however, didn't seem to catch it. She gazed confusedly at Mitchell.

"We have to take her clothes off, as quickly as possible," said Sam.

Cam gave her a nod, then turned back to Vala and slowly but articulately started to talk to her again.

"Don't worry; everything is going to be ok. We… I mean T, got you out on time. Now we gotta get you out of these clothes as fast as we can, ok?"

Again, Vala didn't seem to understand a word he was saying. On the contrary, her eyes were closing again, and her mind starting to sink into unconsciousness. Mitchell saw her lapse and no matter how sorry he felt for waking her up, he knew he had to keep her awake as long as possible. He reached out to cup her cheek into his hand.

"Vala? Vala! Do you understand? We are going to take your clothes off now, ok? Just try to stay with us, alright?"

Up till that point, Daniel hadn't interrupted. He felt terrible for what had happened and he of course blamed himself for the whole incident. It was his guilt that forced him to hold back untill now. But he had already started to grow impatient and more distraught and he didn't have the nerves to remain quiet anymore.

"We don't have time for this Cam; we need to get her dry!" He said in an irritated voice.

He brushed past Sam and knelt down next to Vala's other side, opposite Mitchell. Then, he started to undress her himself. He knew the water must have been freezing, yet when his fingers touched the zipper of her anorak, the intense cold made his hand flinch away instinctively. He couldn't dare to imagine how Vala was feeling with all those freezing clothes on.

The anorak was already so frozen in crunched under his fingers. He quickly unzipped it and took it off, yet during the whole process, he didn't have the courage to look at her directly. Then he continued with her pullover and boots. While undressing her, Daniel couldn't help but notice how violently she was shivering, her teeth chattering noisily. God, she was so pale.

He finally managed to get to the lesser layers, his fingers meeting the bare skin of her stomach. At that moment, he could feel her stiffen and flinch away from his touch. To everybody's surprise, her hands flung up in an instant, and with startling strength, she pushed Daniel's hands violently away.

Daniel supposed she was just scared and so confused that she didn't know what she was doing. So, he tried to explain to her what needed to be done in a relatively calm voice. As calm as he could muster, that is.

"Vala, we really don't have time for this, now let me…"

Yet Daniel was wrong. Vala knew exactly what she was doing. If she were confused about something, this was definitely not it.

"NO Daniel, you're SO not doing that!" She said half angrily, half pleadingly.

Daniel decided not to pay attention to her pleas. This was not the time or place for delicate handling. He continued despite her feeble protests. Finally, she seemed to gather the last bit of strength left in her in order to protest heavily.

"Stop it Daniel! Go away… I said GO AWAY!"

Still, Daniel didn't care. Or better said, it looked like he didn't care. He hated to do this as much as she did, but he simply saw no other choice, especially when his mind was clouded by something not founded on sheer rationality.

The others looked at each other in discomfort. Sam came up with another solution. She closed in on Daniel, touching his shoulder.

"Daniel, maybe I should do it, she may be more comfortable with that." She tried quietly.

He shrugged her hand off and merely continued to fight Vala in order to get her undressed. However, when she didn't stop fighting, Daniel was pushed to the edge.

"Vala, stop fighting! This is ridiculous, I've seen you half-naked on many occasions, none of which I had chosen freely by the way, so stop acting like the Virgin mother and let me get you out of these ice-cold clothes, dammit!"

His words sounded harsher than he had intended. He sighed with regret and despair. Couldn't she see how worried sick he was? Why did she always have to be so bloody stubborn? And weren't the others as scared as he regarding what might happen if they didn't help her on time?

Mitchell used this little moment of hesitation to step in, grabbing Daniel by the arm. Gosh, this day was a nightmare.

"Hey Jackson, I suppose you know what it means when a lady says NO. Sam's right, leave her do it. You're ok with that, Vala?"

She gave a faint nod, all her strength suddenly gone. All that was left was a weak, sick stranger slumped up against the ground, not the Vala they were all used to – strong and independent. This made the others even more worried.

"Ok guys, she needs dry clothes, so let's see what we all can put together. I am donating the thermal blanket which the very kind and thoughtful Doc Lam insisted we take along, despite my continuous bitching and calling it an unnecessary burden. Now I'm gonna have to apologize to her million times. Where was I?... Oh yeah, I'm also donating two pairs of nice, wooly, warm socks. Sam?"

All of them donated some dry and warm clothes, and then the guys left the cave allowing Vala some privacy to get changed.

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While outside, the guys discussed their possibilities. They could see dark clouds on the horizon coming from the east. Mitchell took out a weather scanner and scrutinized the readings. Yep, definitely a storm approaching.

They had only a few possibilities. Two, actually.

Plan A: they could remain where they were and wait for the storm to pass. They could then try to reach the gate on foot, all five of them together. If they waited though, they would risk allowing Vala's condition to worsen. Frostbite was nothing pleasant, but with the thermal blanket, the other dry clothing as well as remaining sheltered within the cave, she could make it just fine. If they made it home, she could heal the frostbite herself with the go'auld healing device herself. Yet, Cam knew that was risky business.

Plan B involved Mitchell taking one member of the team along with him and heading to the gate immediately. They would try to get help before the storm caught up with them. But the risks surrounding this plan were severe: the storm might catch them on their way to the gate, causing them to face brutal weather conditions and possibly get lost on their right way to the gate. Even if they could reach the gate in time, they would still have to wait for a rescue team to assemble, costing them more priceless hours.

"Some choice," thought Mitchell.

The more Cam though about it, the more he considered plan A a better one. Not because it was more comfortable to just sit back and wait. He hated feeling like a sitting duck: it was always very risky. Yet, the risk would increase exponentially if he and somebody else got lost in the storm. If they didn't find their way back to the gate, they would be stranding the rest of the team with a seriously injured teammate, who's only hope at that point would be the SGC dialing out when they didn't check in within approximately 9 hours.

"Ok guys. Whatcha think? I personally think we should wait and see," said Mitchell, not liking the words that came out of his mouth at all. Yet, his brain knew that it was the most reasonable thing to do.

"I agree with Col. Mitchell," said Teal'c. "If we wait for the storm to pass by, we may have a better chance to get to the stargate, saving valuable time for Vala Mal Doran."

"I think we should go right away," said Daniel resolutely. Then his nerves loosened, as already so many times before that day.

"You just can't leave her like this in this god-forsaken wasteland to freeze to death! She is getting serious frostbite, probably pneumonia and who knows what else! How do you even want her to get to the gate? You don't expect her to walk on her own, do you Cam? So what? Are you prepared to carry her the entire way, Teal'c?" His voice was full of anger.

"I believe you are underestimating Vala Mal Doran, Daniel Jackson," said Teal'c in a calm voice.

Daniel wanted to shoot back some acerbic reply but Cam cut through.

"Sorry Jackson, but we outvoted you, 2 to 1. We stay and wait for the storm to pass."

"Crap!" Cursed Daniel.

He was irritated, yes, but he refused to utter one more word. Mitchell clearly didn't know what he was doing. If Jack had been there… Yet, when he thought about it, Daniel hated to admit that Jack would have probably done the same thing.

"You still haven't asked Sam. She is a team member too. You see, you can't set up a vote without letting all members to be present." Murmured Daniel loud enough for Mitchell to hear.

Cam sighed in despair.

"Ok, fair enough. Let's get back to the girls then and ask Sam."

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Daniel concluded there was something wrong the instant he saw the expression on Sam's face. The lame joke that Cam cracked at Vala's expense was immediately overshadowed by Sam's worried look. Instead of a greeting, she gave them the bad news.

"We've got a problem here guys…"

"What is it?" Daniel shot back instantly. He knew right away that whatever it was, he was not gonna like it.

Instead of replying, Sam reached into Vala's hair to show the rest of her team the big nasty cut on Vala's temple.

"She has a massive headache and probably a strong concussion - she doesn't remember what happened to her. Guys, this is worse than we thought…" She didn't need to finish her sentence, they all knew what it meant. If they didn't get her home as soon as possible, she would die here. She was in no condition to walk to the gate on her own. Plus, the injury might cause her some serious head trauma; therefore she needed a doctor right away. The stakes were high, but Cam knew this was changing their previous arrangements totally. They had to go straight from plan A to plan B.

"Damn…" Cursed Mitchell with a heavy sigh.

While Vala was shifting uncomfortably in her corner, the rest of the team was busily thinking through all of the options, everyone lost in his or her own thoughts.

"Ok, so-so you a-all had a lo-look, now gi-gimme five bucks for-for the ss-show. E-each." Vala tried to ease up the situation with another lame joke, yet nobody laughed. The situation was much too serious.

"Ok," said Mitchell resolutely. "We monitored the weather, and the readings on the scanner show that a heavy storm is approaching. The gate is approximately one mile to the West, but the storm is coming from the East. In the deep snow and these conditions, it should take us about 15 to 20 minutes to get to the gate. By the time we reach the gate, it may be possible for the storm to have broken out already. So, question one – How do we find you again, 'cause when the storm breaks out, our comms will most likely be out and the footprints in the snow will have disappear-"

"We can bring a portable tracking device to locate our signal implants," interrupted Daniel without hesitation.

"…which brings us to my second question Jackson, who will go with me and who will stay?" Somehow, Mitchell already knew the answer.

"I will go with you," said Daniel at once.

Cam sighed inwardly. Yep, this was exactly what he was afraid of. He could feel Daniel's stare intently fixed upon him. Mitchell knew why Daniel wanted to go so badly, he just wasn't sure if this was the best idea. He tried to talk Daniel out.

"Jackson, it's pretty chilly out there, besides, we don't know whether we'll be able to reach the gate in time. The storm may catch us on the way and we don't know what to expect, we may get lost or unable to continue…"

"Still, I'll go."

Mitchell scratched his head. "Well, I don't want to hurt your feelings Daniel, but I was thinking more about taking Teal'c or Carter… "

"NO! For the last time Cam, I'll go. Sam can help Vala with the wound and everything and Teal'c has no anorak, and I can't give him mine, or I would freeze. Besides…" Daniel sighed heavily, "…I'm not completely innocent regarding the reasons why we ended up in this mess…"

He gave Cam a pleading look. He wanted to do something, somehow make things up, or at least try to. He couldn't just sit here doing nothing while Vala's condition continued to worsen with every minute.

After all, he had been the one to get them into this, and he had caused all the trouble. He managed to endanger one of his teammates' lives, knowing he purposely pushed Vala over the edge.

'_Jeez just let me go with you!' _Daniel's eyes pleaded, a look of despair written all over his face.

Cam and Sam exchanged glances. Sam gave him an at-least-you-tried look and shrugged as in a sign she doesn't mind Daniel going. Cam understood the message and gave a resignated nod.

"Ok. Jackson and I are going to the gate, while Sam and T will stay here with Vala. Hopefully, we'll be back in two hours. It may take some time to put together a rescue team, especially under these circumstances. Ok, see ya soon."

With that, he left the cave. He hated farewells of any sort, especially when embarking on a dangerous mission. Saying a quick 'see you later' was somehow more reassuring. It gave him the feeling the mission would go well and that he would meet the person he just left again soon.

Yet, for Daniel, it wasn't that easy. He didn't want to go without saying goodbye. He crossed the cave and knelt beside Vala once more.

"We'll be back in no time. You take care of yourself and do whatever Sam tells you, ok?" He said in the most serious, yet gentle tone.

"We-well, sure Da-Daniel..I didn't for-forget that you-you al-always know best..." It was not the remark itself, but her sarcastic tone that that caught him off guard. Yet, he knew he should have expected it.

"Vala, not now please." He didn't want to leave in dispute.

"I-I…didn't do-do it Da-Daniel." She said resolutely. God she could be so persistent sometimes…

"Vala, not now please. We don't have time. We will talk about this when we get you home, alright?" He said, still trying to settle things down.

"I want you to tell me you believe me Daniel!"

Exasperation but also distress was clear in her voice. He didn't answer. It was not the question itself, or the answer he would give her for that matter. No, something else bothered him. Right now, some stupid mace did not matter at all. To Daniel, it didn't even exist at this moment. The only thing that mattered to him now was to get Vala home as soon as possible and get her all the help she needed to be happy and cheerful again.

Nevertheless, he was too afraid to answer her. At that moment, Daniel got the same sort of feeling Cam did whenever he said farewell. Daniel believed that when he left things open, he would get a chance to fix them later. If he left this question open, they would get the chance to sort everything out later. So instead of replying, Daniel chose another gesture to let Vala know how he felt. Before she could object again, he pulled her into a tight hug and gave her a light yet very gentle kiss on the cheek.

"You take care, hold on, and wait for us, promise?" Said Daniel, his voice insistent.

Vala could see that his question was not only a demand from his part. It was also a promise. If she held on, Daniel would return for her. She gave him a small nod. For anything else she was too exhausted and tired. He gave her an encouraging smile and quickly disappeared through the exit hole to catch up with Mitchell's quick pace. Time was short.

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General Landry was sitting in his office going through some official mail when the alarms went off.

"Unscheduled off-world activation!"

He made his way quickly towards the gate room only to be greeted by Walter sitting by the computer.

"It's SG-1, Sir." Walter quickly looked over the data on the computer screen.

"They are not scheduled to check in for another 8 hours." He said worriedly.

"Open the Iris!" commanded General Landry in a firm tone.

The iris opened, but for a couple of moments, nobody stepped through. Then suddenly, two muffled up figures covered from head to toe in snow fell through the gate and collapsed on the ramp. The gate shut down, leaving everyone to watch in astonishment as the two figures fought hard to find their breath again, the snow they dragged with them through the wormhole quietly dispersing all around them. At last, Daniel Jackson found his voice and shouted as loud as his vocal chords could possibly muster:

"We need help!!!"

TBC

_**AN** – ok, so this were the events that happened in the prologue, yet written from a different perspective. Please don't take this as cheating, since I used a lot of dialogue from the prologue, but more as a different angle story-telling. I really planned to write this chapter to fill in some gaps. I hope I succeeded. _

_Ok. So now, you don't have any more plot to hang to you poor guys, since I finally reached the beginning. I am afraid you gotta stick with me from now on of ya wanna know how this all ends:)_

_Ok, now more practical and serious matters._

_I honestly don't know when I will be able to write another chapter. I really hope it to be soon, but again, I cant tell for sure, the finals are getting closer and closer…:(So maybe you will have to wait for another few weeks, maybe even a months again. But don't be sad. I have great plans for the next chapter. :))))) _

_It wont be a filler as was this chapter, of sorts, but it should be a really cool one. Well, at least I hope it wil be, lol:). Anyway, that will be up to you._

_And, for all of you who wanna see Daniel suffer, you bad BAD people ;), including me, watch out for the next chapter, the poor guy is gonna have some very grim and gruesome moments. Hehe, I can be sooo mean!:D_

_Ok, gonna end now. Have a nice day, all of you. AND REVIEW!!!_

_Kiss, liz._

_dismissed _


	9. Hope and Desperation

**Summary** – Since you made it till here, I believe you already know all you need to know. :) Have fun.

**Sandra – **cau. oki, priprav sa na to ze toto tiez bude "chybne" z biologickeho, ako I medicinskeho, antropologickeho ci forenzneho hladiska, tak proste – CHILL OUT a snaz sa si to nevsimat, vies ze studujem nieco komplet ine. a vo volnom case pozeram ER. ;)

a medzi nami, dneska nechcem pocut NIC o tom ze podvadzam, tento jeden je cistucko novucicky, tak nemas pravo pindat! Samozrejme v ramci konstruktivneho criticizmu hej, ale sak ty vies ako to myslim. :)

**Leenie – **You should be added as a co-writer. :) Thank you, thank you, thank you again.

**All – **Ok. So this one is completely new and fresh and original, and nobody of you now knows where this is going to lead, except me of course, but to be honest, even I can't be really sure, since this story has a life on its own.

And, finally, this is the chapter where we will see Daniel suffer a bit. But believe me, this is only the top of the iceberg! ;) Ok, now my sweet beta Leenie just told me that we don't actually see Daniel suffer…so I am calling this off. Who wants to see 'real suffering' will have to wait for the next chapter I guess. lol

Anyway, I hope you'll have fun with reading and REVIEWING!!! Always open to ideas, criticism, inputs and of course, praising (!) ;) of all sorts! Let me know whatcha think!

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 8 – Hope and Desperation

Daniel's loose feet were frantically swinging back and forth whilst hanging from the infirmary bed. Their owner sat nervously on the edge of the bed where he had been forced to remain after some heavy protesting on his part. He hated sitting here and doing nothing, merely waiting for the rescue team to return. He wanted to be present in the dialing room at least, since he wasn't allowed to go back through the gate along with the rescue team.

Cam was stretched out on another bed at the opposite end of the quiet infirmary. Although he was facing Daniel, he was not looking directly at him, since he was struggling with the nurse who was trying to measure his temperature.

"I am fine! I truly am!" Cried Mitchell in frustration.

However, the nurse wasn't paying any attention to his protests and proceeded with her work. Daniel mused that she was probably used to difficult patients, since she had already been working here during the times of Jack O'Neill. Under different circumstances, the look on Cam's face would have made Daniel smile in amusement. However, the situation was far too grim and so was Daniel's mood.

Just a short while after they left the cave and the others behind, all hell broke loose. The storm had started much earlier than they had originally anticipated. In a matter of minutes, the ruthless wind and the snow blowing incessantly into their faces disoriented them. Even their shouts in attempt to address one another were lost in the clamor of the storm. They tried to proceed despite the fact the wind was blowing directly into their faces, strongly leaning into their bodies.

It was almost impossible to keep going, making them feel as though the wind pushed them two steps back in response to every forward step they took.

Their situation was desperate. Their limbs were half frozen, they were short of breath and felt deadly tired. Yet, the two of them persistently continued forward, desperately hoping to somehow reach the gate. They had nothing to lose anyway: if they stopped, they would freeze. Their estimated 20 minutes walk turned to an unbearable 53 minutes long trudge through the snow.

Daniel couldn't remember when he was this tired before.

He wondered how Cam had managed to hold up and keep going. The only thing that had spurred Daniel on was a single thought – the dreadful vision of what would have happened if they didn't reach the gate on time.

The thick curtain of snow and the dark clouds made everything around them dim and hazy. They could see not more than two feet ahead of them, and so if Mitchell didn't literally bump into the DHD, they would have probably walked by and missed the gate entirely.

Daniel couldn't even remember how they dialed and got through. The only thing he remembered was how he suddenly collapsed onto the ramp in the gate room and cried out for help.

It took the SGC almost 30 minutes to gather a rescue team led by Dr. Lam, who found the time to leave the infirmary nurses with explicit orders on what to do with the two members of SG-1 who had already returned. No matter how much the two of them fought the nursing staff in order to stay in the gate room, they were finally defeated when three muscular unfriendly-looking male nurses appeared in the doorway.

In fact, the two SG-1 members weren't feeling anywhere near alright. Their whole bodies were aching, with a heavy exhaustion slowly and insidiously taking over their consciousness, making Daniel, in spite of his heavy protests, almost collapse onto the infirmary bed. Cam was in no better shape.

Without any prior warning, both of them suddenly had thermometers thrust in between their teeth and a mug of hot tea forced into their hands. Only when Daniel had almost spilled the entire contents of his mug had he finally realized that his hands were shaking uncontrollably. He wanted to believe the shuddering was only due to the enormous pressure and exertion he had experienced. But his inner voice, which to Daniel's discomfort was growing stronger every day, told him there was also another reason.

No matter what was happening around them since the two of them had stepped through the gate, the only thing Daniel could really think about was whether the rescue team would be able to find and save the others, specifically the member of his team who was seriously injured.

It took him and Mitchell far more time to reach the gate than they had originally guessed, almost an hour. Another half an hour was needed to gather up the rescue team, whose members would too have to struggle with the raging storm at the other side of the gate, in addition to transporting all the necessary medical supplies. Thank goodness the SGC had already made provisions for every type of weather condition they had experienced before, so that they always had emergency equipment on store; in this case a couple of snowmobiles and other useful tools.

Daniel sighed painfully, then took his glasses off and rubbed his tired eyes. This day was a nightmare. A real mess, which he was overall responsible for. Daniel knew he wouldn't be able to ever look himself in the mirror again if the rescue mission were to fail.

"We did everything we could, you know," a voice began, from the bed at the other side of the room.

Daniel didn't have to look up to know it was Cam. Great. Now Cam will give him one of those "it's-not your-fault" or "accidents-happen" speeches.

"Look Cam, no offense, but I am not in the mood for any pep-talks right now."

"I was just going to say that it's still too early."

"What?" Asked Daniel, confused.

"You keep checking your watch like every 30 seconds. I was just saying it's too early for them to be back."

"Yeah. Right." Said Daniel sounding somehow disappointed.

However, he subconsciously checked his watch again, though he failed to notice the time at all. It was almost half an hour since the rescue team had left Earth. 24 minutes to be exact. Daniel knew it would be impossible for them to be back already. Nevertheless, he still hung onto the hope that the storm would quiet down early…or that the team would find a new bout of strength and energy to hurry a little…or that Teal'c and Sam would help with stabilizing Vala on the stretcher and giving Carolyn updates on her condition. Besides, Harper and Collins from SG-14 had gone with the rescue team, and Daniel knew they were a bunch of really tough guys. Add on the fact that the rescue party was traveling far quicker using the snowmobiles and that they also wouldn't need to search for the cave, or the stargate on their return route for that matter, thanks to the location devices they were bound to use.

Daniel was aware that these thoughts were merely platitudes based entirely upon conjecture, but at least they gave him a slight hint of comfort, an innate hope that everything would resolve itself in the end.

Daniel's thoughts were swirling violently in his head without any clear order, as he desperately tried to keep himself together. He checked his watch again. 25 minutes. Hell, was this watch even working? Or did time decide to freeze still?

Daniel straightened up, closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. The tiredness slowly caught up with him, and a strong wave of cold ran through him causing his body to shiver involuntarily. Within seconds, the annoying nurse appeared at his side once more, forcing him down into the bed, trying to pull the covers over him. He started to explain to her that he was not tired, nor sleepy, and that he wanted to stay awake and wait for the rescue team to return, but she wouldn't listen. Not that he would listen to anything she said in return.

"Hey Jackson! JACKSON!"

He stopped for a moment to look at Cam.

"Listen to the lady: she's right. There's nothing we can do right now. Just lie down and get some rest. It won't do you any harm to get a couple of minutes of extra sleep. Trust me, you will need the strength when the rest of the team returns." Said Mitchell in his most persuasive voice.

The thought of warm and cushy bed made Daniel long for some rest so he finally obliged. Yet, he refused to sleep. He checked his watch again. 28 minutes. Hell, his watch must be broken or something.

"Excuse me?"

He tried to get the attention of the nurse who had just tucked him under the covers.

"Yes doctor Jackson?" She asked in a polite, yet cool voice.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Actually, yes, there is. Could you tell me what time it is?"

The nurse raised her eyebrows and then pointed her thumb above her shoulder at the wall behind her. Above the large drug cabinet, there was even a larger watch that showed exactly 10:20 am. Daniel sighed. Nope, his watch was correct. 29 minutes. Great. Even time wanted to spite him.

Daniel sighed and again, without even noticing checked his watch once more.

"Give them time." Said Mitchell in a soft voice.

"Yeah…That's exactly what they don't have." Said Daniel bitterly. He didn't need to specify who he meant by "they". He meant Vala of course, and Cam knew.

"Look Daniel, you know this was just a very stupid bad-timing accident, don't you?" Started Cam.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "Here we go…" He murmured.

"Look, Cam, nothing personal, but I am really not in the mood for talking right now."

He checked his watch again. Damn, 31 minutes.

"I just don't want you to place the bla-"

"You know what? I guess the nurse was right. Maybe I really should get some rest." He shuffled on his bed and finally managed to turn his back on Cam, showing him he had no intention nor interest to continue with their discussion.

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Daniel didn't even know how, but in a matter of seconds he fell into a light slumber. However, when the alarms went off, he shot from the bed in an instant, almost tripping over his other leg as his head spun, caused by the rash movement. He didn't pay much attention and was already on his way towards the door, when he noticed the large watch on the wall: 10:36 am. So it took the rescue team about 45 minutes to get back home.

He was running towards to gate room without really thinking about where he was going. He already knew the SGC so well he could count on his feet to carry him wherever he wanted to go. Behind him, he could hear another pair of boots. Daniel was sure it was Mitchell.

Daniel got to the dialing room just in time to see the gate open and hearing Walter telling the General it was the code of SG-1. However, Daniel's gaze was focused only on the gate.

Sam and Teal'c were the first one to come through. They looked like crap. Two members of the rescue team stepped through shortly behind them. Then finally, Harper and Collins followed, carrying the stretcher. They were accompanied by Carolyn Lam, whose eyes never left her patient's still form, although she looked as worn out as ever.

The rescue team must have left the snowmobiles at the other side of the gate, assuming that somebody from the SGC would return for them later. It was not like the snowmobiles would go anywhere on that god-forsaken planet anyway; thought Daniel.

Daniel gaze refocused on the stretcher again, causing his heart to miss a beat when he noticed a big blue bag in Carolyn's hands, which meant only one thing – they had had to intubate Vala. Carolyn was squeezing the bag every few seconds to provide Vala's lungs with oxygen. The medic that followed was carrying a portable defibrillator, which had been obviously used before. The only visible part of Vala's body was her face. The rest was covered with a thick woolen blanket, on top of which a large silvery foil was wrapped, which Daniel figured was needed to prevent any heat loss from her body by radiation. Someone had placed a group of blue heat packs around her body in an attempt to warm her up. Daniel's breath caught when he saw how deathly pale her face was, and how blue her lips were… They had always been so bloody red and most of the time spread out into a huge confident grin aimed at him…God they HAD to revive her.

While the medical team transferred Vala onto a gurney, Dr. Lam looked up towards the dialing room, focusing her gaze upon General Landry, and shook her head dejectedly. Daniel felt his chest tighten up, suddenly feeling sick and weak.

However, when he felt Cam brush past him, and watched him descend the stairs in order to join the rest of the team on their way to the infirmary, Daniel finally found the strength to move and quickly follow him.

There were still a few feet behind the crew when Mitchell started to ask questions.

"What happened? Why is she tubed?"

Dr. Lam answered him without even turning her head or slowing down.

"Her condition worsened significantly some time after you left. By the time we got to the cave, she was already unconscious. She is suffering from extreme hypothermia: her body temperature has gone down dangerously below normal. Under ordinary circumstances, she might have been able to start recovering shortly after being pulled out of the water, but since she was exposed to the freezing weather and cold for so long, her lungs started to shut down, causing respiratory failure, so we had to intubate her shortly after our arrival. We also had some serious trouble with her heart."

"Her heart?" Asked Cam in confusion.

"Yes. See, hypothermia causes the vital body organs to shut down in order to save energy and keep her blood circulating. By the time we managed to get to her, Vala's heart beat had already slowed down significantly, but was still stable.. But half way back to the gate, she suddenly went into cardiac arrest, so we had to stop and shock her right on the spot. There was no way we could give her a heart massage till we got here, so defib her was the best and only option. Luckily enough, she proved to be quite a fighter and we managed to get her heartbeat up again."

"So you think she will make it?" Asked Cam with hope.

"I am sorry but I can't give you any answers just yet." Said Carolyn, avoiding a direct answer on purpose.

Daniel wasn't able to say anything. He felt as if he were in a trance. The only action he was capable of doing was to follow the gurney, his eyes never leaving the still figure lying upon it. In his head, he could still see the look on Carolyn's face and the sad shake of her head when she had stepped through the gate.

When they were no further than 10 meters from the infirmary, the cardiac monitor started beeping wildly. Dr. Lam observed the monitors with heightened concern.

"Damnit! She is crashing again!"

Dr. Lam switched her quick pace into a run. While quietly cursing under her breath, she failed to notice Vala's hand falling from the side of the gurney and lifelessly dangling in the air.

They finally arrived at the infirmary and Carolyn quickly pushed the gurney into the trauma room. However, before closing the door behind her, she abruptly turned to the others, who had been simply following her up to his point, causing them to freeze in their tracks.

"I'm sorry, but you know the rules. You'll have to wait outside. I will inform you the instant I manage to get her stable again and decide on the best treatment."

With that, she closed the door behind her, leaving the remaining members of SG-1 outside. Finally, Daniel's knees failed to carry him and, with his back pressed against the wall, he slowly slid down to the ground with an exhausted sigh. He could feel his heart thumping hard against his chest, his whole body shaking with exhaustion. He hugged his knees, resting his forehead on the top of them.

"Daniel, are you alright? Shall we call somebody?" Daniel could hear Sam's concerned voice.

"I am fine." He mumbled from behind his knees. He was so tired, so worried, so sick. All the things that happened throughout the previous days started to play before his eyes again…yet the order was all messed up. He knew a very strong headache would soon follow these flashbacks.

"Daniel?" Somebody touched his shoulder, making him look up. He finally opened his eyes.

"I am fine, ok? Just really tired."

Sam gave him an understanding look.

"We all are."

"Vala Mal Doran is a fighter, Daniel Jackson. She is going to be healthy again." Said Teal'c.

"I know," responded Daniel in a seemingly careless voice. He knew Teal'c's words were just meant to soothe him, but surprisingly, they really did.

"What happened after we left?" Asked Daniel. He wanted to change the subject to something more casual.

"A short while after you were gone, all hell broke out. The storm started too soon. We were concerned you wouldn't make it to the gate." Said Sam.

"We didn't think we would make it either." Said Mitchell. "We literally bumped into the gate."

"Vala Mal Doran was continuously losing and gaining her consciousness after you left. Approximately half an hour before the rescue team arrived, she fell unconscious again, but this time, Col. Carter wasn't able to wake her up anymore." Continued Teal'c.

"Did she…" Daniel wanted to ask, but suddenly stopped when he realized how stupid and selfish it would sound if he asked whether Vala had mentioned him at all before she lost consciousness. Yet, Sam knew Daniel well and she guessed what was on his mind.

"No. Shortly after you left the hypothermia, and probably the head wound as well, began to get to her. At first, she stopped talking. Then, she got delusional and mumbled some stuff. She mentioned a lot of things, even spoke in a couple of different languages, but I didn't notice anything of real importance."

Then, Sam gave Daniel a big smile.

"Although, now that you mention it, there was something rather interesting…she said: ' Leave that coffee alone, Daniel!'"

Daniel's eyebrows almost reached his hair. Mitchell gave a small laugh; even Teal'c ducked his head and smiled.

"Figures." Said Daniel pulling a face. However, he could feel a warm, fond feeling spreading through his chest at the memory of the countless times Vala had attempted to rid him of his caffeine addiction.

Then, they all fell into silence, a rather comfortable one at that, with everybody recalling different humorous situations they had shared with Vala. In the few months since she joined their team, everyone on SG-1 felt she became an irreplaceable part of it. Now they were waiting, praying in silence for their friend to be alright. Slowly, the rest of them had managed to find some uncomfortable spots on the ground while they waited for Dr. Lam.

Everybody was nervous, but Daniel was so tense he couldn't do anything else but fidget with his watch and stare at the ground in front of him. Suddenly, he noticed a shiny object on the floor. There was something there, something he hadn't noticed before. He bent forward and reached for it. He found that it was a thin golden chain with a small pendant attached to it. He saw some engravings, even recognized them to be ancient, but just as he was about to observe the tiny object closer, he felt someone snatch it out of his grasp. He turned in surprise only to feel even more surprised when he realized that the thief was someone he didn't expect at all: it was Sam who held the chain in question protectively in her right hand. Daniel raised his eyebrows, giving Sam a questioning look.

"Could you please hand that back? I didn't have time to look at it yet. It might be something valuable." He explained, as though he were addressing a small child, since he could think of no better justification for Sam's actions except madness.

"Now you sound more like Vala." Teased Sam, trying to change the subject.

Daniel didn't even flinch, he simply continued staring at Sam questioningly. Sam shifted a bit, feeling awkward.

"If you don't mind Daniel, I'd rather return it to it's rightful owner, ok?"

"As a matter of fact, I would mind. See, there are some ancient engravings on the pendant, so whomever you mean by owner, you must be mistaken. It can't belong to anybody on this base."

"Actually, it can. It belongs to Vala."

"Vala?? Are you sure?"

"I am sure, Daniel."

Daniel surprise couldn't have gotten any larger. He didn't know Vala had something like that in her possession.

He continued giving Sam a questioning look, waiting for her to tell him what it was.

"I…well, it's something…rather private."

"Sam, what is it?" Asked Daniel impatiently, curiosity taking over him.

"I can't tell you. I promised I wouldn't tell anybody."

This pushed Daniel's curiosity to it's maximum.

"Sam? Would you please be so kind as to tell us?"

"You better ask Vala herself, Daniel." She said quietly.

All of them fell silent again. They knew it wouldn't be easy to ask Vala anything for quite some time.

Suddenly, the door opened only to reveal Carolyn Lam with a more tired expression on her face than the one she had earlier in the gateroom. She didn't look any more optimistic than she did before either.

They all jumped to their feet, waiting for the doctor to give them the most recent update on Vala's condition.

Carolyn inhaled and started to talk.

TBC

_AN – Ok, another cliffie. Now whatca think? What is there for Carolyn to tell them? Let me know!_

_If you review, I might write another piece sooner…;)_

_Nah, probably not, but still, it would make my day and bolster me to more writing enthusiasm…:) If I were you, I would give it a try. ;)_

_Ok, enough of me. Have a great day you all, hope you liked it! And don't forget to review!_

_Dismissed!_


	10. Dream and Reality

**All – **Thank you so much for your patience, I hope it was worth it. In this chapter, well, again, I wanted to proceed with the story, and again, I got an idea I didn't wanna waste. I hope you will like it, it's the middle of the chapter. However, I feel obliged to warn you this chapter to be somehow sappy, so get ready for the tons of sugar. :)

Again, **read and REVIEW!!! **

And Ow! BTW! I wanted to tell you that I just saw the Quest Part 2 and the following two episodes, so I don't know what, if anything, happens between Daniel and Vala, so if my story isn't somehow fitting into the original script anymore – sorry, and please, take this as an AU.

**ATTENTION ****ALL – **There has been some slight problems with my betta, who is swamped with work, at least i hope so honey, you alright,right:) So I decided to post the next chapter without betta-ing this time.

the risks of doing such a thing - well,

1. bad spelling

2. bad grammar

3. crazy word order

4. baffling expressions without any obvious meaning

5. medical inaccuracies

Buut, despite all of this, I hope you all wont mind, cause i know that there really is NO excuse for the belated posting. Sorry again and have fun reading!

**ATTENTION ****ALL** **NO 2.**– I've experienced some nasty surprise, when certain someone (Yes, it was you, Briar Elwood) wrote into one review submited to a story that had nothing to do with the second half of season 10 how season 10 end. To be honest, I was pretty angry and disappointed that I now know the ending, It pretty much spoiled it for me.

So, I hereby would like to ask you all, who have already seen the rest on season 10, to be carefull and thoughtful to the rest of us, who weren't that lucky to see those few remaining episodes. Because it is not nice to have the very end of your favourite series spoiled by some seemingly harmless review.

**Hazmot – **A special thanks to Hazmot, who has chased my ass to write another chapter, and also for your sweet support, it really meant the world to me!!! It's a gift to have such wonderful readers like you. Thank you again, I hope this chapter was worth the long wait.

**Dawn** – Thank you darlin for your sweet review, Ive already missed you!:

**Leenie – ****Honey, I am soo sorry for not waiting for your revierw, but I really felt like I had to get this of my chest. I hope you really don't mind and I hope you are well and happy succesfully finishing your thesis! Cross fingers! **

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 9 – Dream and Reality

_Suddenly, the door opened only to reveal Carolyn Lam with a more tired expression on her face than the one she had earlier in the gateroom. She didn't look any more optimistic than she did before either._

_They all jumped to their feet, waiting for the doctor to give them the most recent update on Vala's condition._

_Carolyn inhaled and started to talk._

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„I'm afraid I don't have many good news for you."

Said Carolyn without hesitation the minute she stepped throught the door. During her many years of practise, she made the experience that the truth and directness was the best approach on how to tell the family and friends the news, no matter how hard the truth was.

„As for the good news, we were able to stabilize Vala for now. She is slowly gaining a normal temperature again, her heart rate and pressure are strong and steady. However, that's the only possitive news I have for you." The members of SG-1 were carefully listening, their eyes never leaving the doctor's face.

„So? What is the other news, doc?" Asked Mitchell, ready to get over with the unpleasant part as quickly as possible.

Carolyn breathed once again, then started to explain.

„We were able to stabilize her, for now. Her heart is now functioning again, yet she still remains on respirator, since she isn't able to breath on her own. Curently, we are keeping her in a coma. She suffered some frostbite on her hands and feet, yet in comparission to her other problems, is it rather minor. However, her lungs are in a bad shape. I can tell you right now, she is getting a hell of a pneumonia, which we have medicine to treat with, yet, the biggest part it's always up to the patient and their strenght. Unfortunatelly, she is very weak now, her body fighting a whole array of other problems. Considering her condition, the prognosis isn't very good. However, as for now, she is fighting." Carolyn made a pause, cause the one last thing she had to tell them was still ahead of her.

„But she is gonna be alright? We all know her, she's a fighter, she can get through this, right?" Asked Cam, his eyes pleading for some good news.

„As for the hypothermia, we still not know. Although the result we get to date are looking cosidering the circumastances surprisingly good, we still can't tell for sure the extension of nerve and organ damage. Even If she wakes up, she is gonna have some very hard and painfull weeks, possibly months of rehabilitation ahead of her."

„Well, that shouldn't be a problem. She could use the healing device to cure heself after her strenght returns, right?" Said Mitchell, suddenly cheering up a little bit.

„Well, that may be possible, although you know of how much strengh it always drains from her, even after using the device to cure minor injuries. We can't say for now if she'll be even abl-"

„Hold on for a moment. You said: _Even If she wakes up_…What is that supposed to mean?" Asked Daniel in a quiet, dangerously calm voice, looking directly into the doctors eyes. And although it was one of the most penatrating looks Carolyn ever got, she didn't flinch.

„That's the main problem we have. As it seems, the pneumonia and hopythermia may be the ‚smaller' problems. Appearantly, we underestimated the head injury. The CT showed her skull was broken, the blow to the head causing serious swelling and some minor bleeding to her brain."

This was definitely the news none of SG-1 expected. Everybody was staring at Carolyn in horror, unable to move or say anything, the blunt and helpless expression on their faces causing Carolyn the break the unbearable silence by continuing.

„Now, we were able to stop the swelling and the MRI showed the drugs were effective and stopped the bleeding. However, we can't say for sure, but it is very well possible she may have suffered serious brain damage."

The silence on the corridor that came up after Carolyn's last statement was ear-splitting.

„What..what..are you saying she may never wake up again?" Asked Sam in shock.

She couldn't believe this. She couldn't loose another female friend like this. It was the first time she bonded with a woman at SGC since Janet…

„We don't know yet. Usually, we would try if she was able to breathe on her own, that would indicate her brain was still functional, although not necesarily without damage. However, her lungs collapsed from the cold and even if we unplugged her from the respirator and she would fail to breathe on her own, we would be unable to determine if it was due to the head trauma or lung failure." Everybody was staring at her with horror.

„I'm really sorry." She added, indicating there was no more for her to say.

Mitchell cursed nastily, turned around and kicked the wall. Sam was looking directly through Carolyn, lost in her own thoughts and painful memories. As for Daniel, his expression was unreadable. The doctor couldn't tell if he even knew where he was and what was going on.

„When will you be able to tell us more about Vala Mal Doran's condition?" Asked Teal'c, the only one able to think rationally.

„Well, however unpleasant it may sound, the only thing to do now is to wait. We will have to make sure her temperature is normal again and that her internal organs didn't suffer any further damage. Then we may try to uplug her from the respirator and see how her body reacts. I must warn you though, even if her organs continue to function normally, there is no way to tell if she didn't suffer permanent brain damage, or even if she will be able to wake up from the coma. As I said, we have to wait."

„Can't it be that Vala Mal Doran wakes up on her own, even before you take her down from the respirator?" Asked Teal'c, who was obviously the only one in condition to ask any reasonable questions.

„No. As for now, we keep her strongly sedated, she needs her rest."

„How much time do you estimate will it take untill you can try to unplug her form the breathing maschine?" Asked the Jaffa calmly.

„A day, maybe two. As I said, as soon as we get her bodyheat under control again, and also be sure her other internal organs work properly again, then we can try to get her down from the respirator and lower the medication dosage."

Daniel's back was pressed against the corridor wall. He was surprised, but he couldn't feel anything. He always though that in a situation like this, he would be angry, sad, horriffied, hell, maybe even violent, but nothing of that happened. He could feel…nothing. Only emptiness. Scary emptiness in his chest. His mind was repeating the one sentence the doctor told them: ‚_may have suffered serious brain damage'…_‚_may have suffered serious brain damage'…_‚_may have suffered serious brain damage'…_‚_may have suffered serious brain damage'…_.

Daniel didn't even notice how, but suddenly, he was on the ground leaning with his back against the wall, his legs unable to hold him any much longer. Somebody was saying something, but Daniel couldn't focus. ‚_may have suffered serious brain damage'…_

„Doctor Jackson. Doctor JACKSON!"

Daniel eyes snapped open, he didn't notice he had closed them. Doctor Lam was leaning over him, a concerned look on her face.

„You all should have some rest. You have a very hard day behind you. I need to do a quick check-up on all of you and then you are free to go and have some sleep at your quoters, alright?"

_Have some sleep? _Daniel couldn't imagine to be able to fall asleep. Sleep was a luxury he didn't deserve.

„Can we see her?" Daniel asked quietly.

„I think you should rest. There is nothing you could do right now. If anything changes, I will let you know that instant, I promise." Replied Carolyn gently.

„Can we see her?" Asked Daniel again, oblivious of what she just said.

„Please." He added in a urgent tone.

„Ok, but only for five minutes and only if you promise me to go straight to bed afterwards."

Daniel nodded in agreement, taking Mitchell's and Teal'c's hand as they were helping him up on his feet again. All four of them with doctor Lam right behind them walked into the room. The smell of antiseptics made their stomach turn upside down. Daniel walked in a trance. He knew the others were right with him, but the only thing he could focus on was the white bed in the far corner of the infirmary that accomodated a still figure, which's face was even paler than the sheets in was cowered with.

The only visible parts of Vala were her head and arms, resting at the top of the thick special sheets that were keeping her warm. Her hands were bandaged with thick dressings, probably due to the frostbite. The quiet noises coming from the heart rate monitor and respirator dug into Daniel's consciousness.

Her face was deadly pale, drown of all blood. So still, almost like she were dead…

He noticed fainlty when Cam cursed behind him at the sight. Daniel understood him perfectely. It was not like there weren't in this situation before. There were always accidents, ambushs, belligerent attacks, misfortunate experiments. But this time, it was their fault one of their own team was laying on the infirmary bead, almost killed by a dispute and provocation inside their own group. To be accurate, his provocation.

How Daniel passed the medical check-up or how he even got into his quoters he didn't know. He was laying inside his bed, tugged under his sheets and was angry he was forced in here. He wanted to stay. I's always been like that. Somebody got hurt, they would stay till they wake up. Not this time however. The chance of Vala waking up in the next 30 hours was minimal. Zero, the better expression. As for later…, Daniel didn't want to go that far.

He was tossing and turning in his bed, yet couldn't find any comfort. He lay on his back, eyes absent/mindedly focused on the dark ceiling. He was unable to fall asleep, not under these circumstances. He glanced at the watch beside his bed. 4:13 pm. He would wait till 8 pm, then he would sneak out of his room and check on Vala. Hopefully, the good doctor Lam wouldn't be anywhere nearby.

Daniel didn't even bother to set an alarm. He though it to be impossible to fall asleep. Yet, however strongminded he was, his body, as so many times before that day, betrayed him again and he fell into a restless sleep.

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_Daniel was running through a snow-covered forest. He didn't know where he was or why he was running, he just did. Suddenly, he noticed some movement on his right. He turned his head but didn't slow down. He could see Cam bound to a tree shouting at him:_

„_Watch out! They are everywhere! And they will get to you too!"_

_Daniel kept running, but all of a sudden, some strong hand grasped his mounth, the second his waist and quickly pulled him into a sort of a cave adroitly hidden under the snow. Before Daniel had the chance to cry out, Teal'c signaled him to be quiet. He was sitting in the middle of the cave, legs crossed, a barrier of fire between the two men. Dressed all up in green camouflage outfit, wearing a helmet disguised with leaves and moss, his face cowered with green paint, the only thing missing was his golden emblem that used to be on his forehaed._

_Still with his index finger on his lips, Teal'c reached into his pocket and to Daniel's astounding pulled out a small golden chain with a little pendant attached to it. Daniel recognized it at once. It was the pendant Sam took from him claiming it belonged to Vala._

„_She wants it back." Teal'c whispered in a scared voice, so untipical for the big Jaffa._

„_But I told her. She won't get it untill she returns what's not hers."_

_He then raised his hand with his index finger pointing to his forehead. _

„_It will be your quest, Daniel Jackson, to get it back. My emblem…", then he pointed his finger into the corner of the room, where Daniel for the first time saw somebody squirming in the corner, „and his mace!"_

_Slowly from the shadow of the cave, a figure emerged, a figure of a young boy._

„_Tabuti?" Asked Daniel in shock._

„_What are you doing here? Where's your father? Where are your people?"_

„_She took it altough it wasn't hers. She shall return it or she will be punished." He said._

„_But who? Who took the mace?" Asked Daniel, although he knew the answer._

„_The raven one." Said Tabuti and disappeared. Only Teal'c was left._

„_Take this." He pressed the chain with the pendant into Daniel's wrist. _

„_Don't forget. Emblem and mace for the locket. That's the deal."_

_The cave, Teal'c and the fire vanished. Daniel was again standing in the forest, though this time, there was a cruel, violent storm going on. He could barely see a few feet ahead of him. He passed the tree Mitchell has been bound to previously. It was empty. Daniel's eyes were starting to sting and tear from the the harsh wind. He stopped for a moment to dry them._

„_Going somewhere?" Asked a female voice from behind. Daniel jumped in surprise and turned around._

„_Looking for this?" Asked Sam, showing him an object she was squeezing in her hand. It was Shaa'res picture that usually hung on his office wall._

„_Give it back!" Shouted Daniel angrily. „It doesn't belong to you!"_

„_Oh really? But you too, have something that does not belong to you, don't you Daniel?" Asked Sam in an amused tone. Daniel stared at her in confussion. What did he have that was somebody elses? _

_His hand subconsciously reached into his pocket, where his fingers found the pendant. He took it out and looked at it._

„_What is it? Why does Vala have it?" He asked Sam loudly._

„_I am sorry, Daniel, but I already told you. I can't tell." She shouted back. The two of them were standing still some ten feet apart from each other and literally had to shout to be able to understand one another._

„_If you won't tell me, I will not give it to you." Daniel shouted angrily._

„_Well,I promised not to tell. But if you really wanna know, you should better ask her!" Sam replied poining her hand somewhere behind Daniel and disappeared in the darkness of the forest. Daniel turned around and there she was, standing some six feet ahead of him,her arms crossed over her chest, a big mischievous grin spread all over her face._

„_There there. What took you so long?" Asked Vala._

„_I've been waiting here for you quite some time now. You know how rude it is to keep a lady waiting, don't you Daniel?" She teased._

„_Now, if you don't mind, I would like my pendant back." She said in a more serious tone and stretched out her hand towards him. Daniel didn't move._

„_No."_

„_No?" Vala asked surprisedly._

„_Why not?"_

_He didn't reply only stared at her knowingly. She still looked vaguely._

„_Oh don't be such a jerk, Daniel! I've done everything you asked from me. I left everything behind, I joined your team, I risked my life in order to save that tiny unsignificant planet of yours and now you turn your back on me? Now, I little faith in me would be nice, don't you think? I really have to say you are hurting my feelings…" She said dramatically._

„_Return what you took and everything is gonna be fine." Said Daniel, oblivious of her little drama performance._

„_UH! Alright!" cried Vala in frustration. „Here you go!" She reached into her pocket and took Tea'lc's emblem from her pocket. Throwing it in Daniel's direction, it landed just a few centimeters away from his feet._

„_But I told Muscles I would give it back. And I always do, he knows that! Now, return what's mine." She said expectantly._

„_You still have something that does not belong to you." Said Daniel resolutely._

„_What?? No I don't!" Shouted Vala indignantly._

„_Give back the mace. I know you have it."_

„_What mace? Ah, that one. I don't have it. I never had it. I mean I had it, but then I gave it back. I didn't even ever held it."_

„_Too much of a confussing answer, don't you think?" Daniel said mockingly._

„_UH, who cares? It's the truth. Now give me back my pendant."_

„_Not until you return the mace."_

„_I told you Daniel, I don't have it!" She cried. She was starting to move in order to close the distance between the two of them. She was now closing up on him, her face clearer with each step she made in the dim light. She was already a foot away from him, however, she didn't stop. She closed every distance between them that was left, leaning into him, bringing her mounth to his ear, quietly whispering: _

„_Now, return what's not yours." _

_Her warm breath was tickling the skin of his neck and Daniel could feel the hair of his neck rising. Vala gave a little laugh, then withdrew her face an inch back, looking directly into his eyes. Her's were sparkling mischievously. She leaned closer and gave him a sweet teasing kiss on the lips before stepping back, smiling. She held out her hand in order to show him what was inside and Daniel was shocked to find out it was her pendant comfortably resting in it. In panic, he quickly dug his hand into his pocket where the pendant used to be but found it empty. Vala laughed gently once again._

„"_Well, well, Daniel. You just never learn from your mistakes, do you?"_ _She said in a deep voice,__ half teasingly, half reproachefully. Her defiant gaze lingering on him, her smile snobbish. _

_Daniel was furious. She tricked him again. But he wouldn't let her this time._

„_Give me the mace Vala." He said cooly, his rage bubbling just beneath the surface._

„_I told you! I don't have it!" She said innocently, flinging her arms in the air. „Somebody else must have taken it."_

„_Now. We can make it the easy, or the hard way Vala." Said Daniel through gritted teeth._

_Vala laughed, then sized Daniel from head to toes. „You know me Daniel. And I know you. I am not the one choosing easy. The hard way then."_

_Without a warning, Daniel jumped forward, taking Vala by surprise, forcing her down to the ground._

„_Give me the mace Vala. Those people need it!" He said, pinning her down hard._

„_I don't have it Daniel!" Shouted Vala back. „I never had it!"_

„_Don't lie to me!" Shouted Daniel directly into her face._

„_Ouch Daniel! Let me be. You are hurting me!" Her voice wasn't as nearly amused anymore. She was scared, her eyes frantically searching his own in confussion, possibly triing to find an explanation for his behaviour, but Daniel didn't give a damn._

„_Where is it Vala? Tell me!" He pushed even harder, very well aware he was pushing too much._

„_I don't know!" Vala cried out in pain, triing to get out of his grasp, but he was too strong._

„_She told you Jackson, she doesn't have it! Now drop it, we still have a mission to complete and then return to the SGC." Mitchell's voice shot through the air. _

_Daniel turned his head only to see all three remaining members of SG-1 standing behind him, all of them looking down on him in distaste._

„_Please Daniel, release her, she didn't do anything." Said Sam in a quiet voice._

„_Indeed." Added Teal'c._

_Daniel felt a sudden punch of shame. He turned back at Vala to apologize but when he looked down, she wasn't there anymore. Instead, at the exact spot where she has been lying was now a big black hole filled with dark water. Daniel panicked. He threw both of his hands into the water trying to catch her, but it was too late. The only thing he was capable of was shouting her name._

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Daniel jerked from his dream, his breathing heavy, his heart pounding hard against his chest. He looked around confusedly. It took him a second to recognize his surroundings. He relaxed. He was in his own room, in his own bed, at SGC. It was just a bad dream, wasn't it? Still in dark, his hand searched the bed table for his glasses. He finally found them and put them on to see what time it was. 3:27 am. _Damn!_ He must have been sleeping for over eleven hours!

He shot out of his bed, put on some clothes and made his way towards the door. Still a bit confused by the strange dream, he wandered the empty SGC corridors, occiasionally meeting a night guard or some too enthusiastic scientist.

While he still though about the dream, his feet were carrying him to the infirmary. He wanted to see her, to assure himself she was alright.

There was no one else in the room exept of Vala and the various maschines keeping her alive.

He closed onto her bed, pulling a chair that stood nearby and lowering himself onto it. He was looking into her face, still so pale, yet a bit more colourfull. She looked so at peace. He realized he never had the chance to see her like this; composed and oblivious to the world. She looked almost content.

Daniel still couldn't believe this was the reality. Oh he wished, he wished so badly he would jerk from this dream too, and when he did so, there would be a smiling Vala, poking him into the ribs while sitting next to him at his working desk in his office, asking him if he would join her at lunch.

But no matter how much he wished, it was just his wishful thinking.

She was lying here, after almost dying in the freezing water after the ice of a frozen lake broke underneeth her on some god forsaken planet somewhere in the universe. And now, she may never wake up again, or never be the same as before…

_No silly, that's not happening. You know me! I've survived far worse that this!_

Ringed Vala's cheerfull voice in his head and Daniel realized his imagination just called himself ‚silly'. He had to smile. It was HER expression, one of her special nicknames she used to give people, mostly people she really cared about, although she would never admit it. And this one was preserved only for him, Daniel knew.

He reached out wanting to grasp Vala's hand, but then he realized it was so heavily bandaged he couldn't. He didn't stop the movement though, just changed it's direction a bit and continued his way upwards her arm, then shoulder, collarbone and neck, till his hand touched her cheek, where it finally remained, his thumb gently caressing the still rather cold skin of her face.

Daniel couldn't imagine another day without her teasing, without her smile, without the bickering. He already missed it immensely.

He quickly turned around to check if anybody was nearby and then murmured:

„Please, be allright and wake up soon. I will make up everything to you, I promise you, just don't leave me here alone. I promise I'll do everything you wish, I'll stop bickering, I'll even cut down on the caffeine, just wake up soon and kick my ass for what a jerk I've been in the last few days…or ever…"

Daniel sighed, leaned over and gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

„I am sorrry, I gotta go now. But I promise I'll be back soon."

Daniel left the infirmary and slowly returned to his quoters, where he laid down on the bed again. He didn't want Doctor Lam or any other doctor or nurse find him in the infirmary. There was enough talking around the base about his somehow odd relationship with the sassy alien as it was, even without a story how he secretively sneaked into the infirmary to visit Vala at night.

However, Daniel knew, that sleep would not come that night anymore. But iven if so, he wouldn't let it. Cause the though of another nightmare like he already had that night terrified the hell out of him.

TBC

_AN - Ok, sooorry for the long wait, but i hope you liked it and that this chapter was worth the wait. Btw, cross fingers, Ive had my state examination on the 11.5 from english (passed and got an A!YAY!!) and I have the rest on 25.5 from everything else still ahead of me. Trust me, I will need ALL the support I can get. _

_Oh, and keep your reviews coming, I just caaaan__'t wait to break the 100 limit, I know, still far from it, but I hope that with YOUR help I will be succesfull._

_Have a nice day and rest of the week, loving you all, Liz._


	11. Break up and Make up

**Sandra – **Mm, tento sa mi osobne tiez velmi paci, ale tebe uz nic neverim:( Asi to bude podla teba zase malo, ale o to tu nejde, vies? Tu ide o co? No jasne. O MNA:))))

**All – **Hey all. Happy too see you all again. This time only this: Rise your lazy fingers and click the small button down on your left. Because this one click plus a tiny messages make my little heart burst with happiness. See the powere you all posses? Its like the chaos theory – one butterfly wings its wings and on the next side of the world… But hey? Who would wanna get bored with that? ;)

**Leenie** – Cross fingers for your thesis. :)

And one more thing** – Dawn **– I sent you an email but I got it to the adress you gave but I got it back. So pls, if you could, sent it once more, if you wanna get that email. ;)

**PS – **This chapter is also without betta, sorry leenie! I hope it will be understandable though.

**And hello especially to Myosotis13 and Spacegypsy1, who are such wonderful people. :)**

_ This chappie is unusually dedicated to Hazmot, who is such a marvelous reader!_

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 10 – Break-up and Make-up

It's been early morning when Daniel returned to the infirmary. The SGC was already buzzing with activity, the infirmary was however quiet. The only patient was lying exactly where Daniel saw her the night before, only this time, the curtains were closed to guarantee some privacy. Daniel could see some movement behind it, accompanied by a quiet conversation.

„So you'll try sometime tomorrow afternoon?" Mitchell's voice could be heard as Daniel came closer.

„Yes. Of course, only if nothing unexpected occurs." Replied Carolyn quietly.

Daniel drew the curtain slightly to the side.

„Good morning doctor Jackson." Said Carolyn who noticed Daniel first.

„Morning." Replied Daniel gloomily, then gave Mitchell a nodd, to which the other man replied almost as gloomily.

„We were just discussing Vala's condition with Col. Mitchell." Said doctor Lam.

„And?" Asked Daniel the doctor, although his look has already wandered to the patient.

„...and, since her condition didn't worsen during the night, not counting the rising temperature, and the CT and MRI supported our assumptions the swelling receeded and no more bleeding occured, I just told Col. Mitchell here that we would try to unplug her from the respirator tomorrow afternoon, see how she responds."

„Don't you think it will be too soon?" Asked Daniel worriedly, switching his look from Vala to Carolyn and back. Of course he wanted Vala to breathe on her own as soon as possible, however, he didn't want them to rush anything.

„Not really. There is no danger in doing so, we would plug her right on again, if she won't be able to breath on her own. And it wouldn't neccessarily mean anything if she didn t. But, and there's your positive news Col. Mitchell," She shot an meaningful look at Mitchell, who gave her an genuine smile, „if she will be able to breath on her own, it would be great news, indicating her lungs to work again, although there still would be a great way to go to full recovery. And, it would also extend our chances of Vala's awakening."

„Her chances." Said Daniel absent-mindedly.

„Excuse me?" Asked Carolyn in confusement.

„You said _our chances_,but it should be ‚_her_' _chances_. She is the one fighting for her life." Explained Daniel, still somewhat absent in his thoughts.

„Well..of course..I didn't mean it..." Stuttered Carolyn awkwardly. Cam layed his hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.

„It's ok. Jackson didn't mean it like that, did you Daniel?"

„What?" Flinched Daniel.

„See?" Said Cam. „Already forgotten." He gave the doctor a toothy grin.

„Can we stay?" Asked Daniel.

„Sure. If there is nowhere else you have to be, feel yourself at home." Said Carolyn graciously.

„I have to go to fill some report now, but I will check on her in an hour or so. If anything, press this." She pointed her finger to a red button on the wall. Then she gave the two of them a nodd and walked away.

„So..." Started Mitchell. „Did you sleep well?"

„Spectacular." Replied Daniel with an ironic smirk.

„Yeah...well...me neither." Said Cam. „BUT..." Started Mitchell in a convincing tone, „I am absolutely positive Vala is gonna make it. She is my girl after all."

Daniel raised his eyebrow.

„I mean our girl...SG-1 girl.., as in member of SG-1!" Said Cam hurriedly, then sighed and run his hand through his hair. Daniel seemed expremely edgy this morning. Finally, Cam waved with his arms through the air as if excercising, ending the movement with a clap of his hands.

„So, there is a meeting at 10 am with General Landry. He wanna know about yesterday." Said Cam nervously.

„I'll be there." Replied Daniel impassively.

„You staying here?"

„Yep." Replied Daniel as impassively as before and Cameron saw that Daniel maybe liked some privacy. One member of SG-1 would be enough for now anyway.

„Ok. See you at 10 then."

„Ok."

With that, Cam left the infirmary, leaving Daniel alone.

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It was exactly 10 am when Daniel entered the briefing room as the last one. He was always punctial, but how he did it was always a mystery to Cameron.

General Landry, who was sitting at the top of the table, signaled Daniel to sit down. Then he called upon Mitchell to recount on the events of the previous day. Everybody was quiet up until the part when Vala decided to step out on the ice. At that moment, Mitchell stopped talking for a second squirming in his seat uncomfortably, not sure how exactly to continue or how precisely and detailed to tell the general of the events that happened the day before. Finally, ho chose to follow the military path.

„...then, as she was about 10 feet away, there was a very strong earthquake nobody expected. We all fell down and when we got up again, we tried to warn her, we called after her, but Vala was down too and was obviously pretty confused herself. It must have been then when she hit her head. Before we could do anything, the ice started to break and she fell into the water. Teal'c was able to retrieve her. She was conscious at that time, but till we got her to the cave, she already blacked out. Then we changed her into dry clothes and me and Daniel..." He shot Daniel a short indirect glimpse „...returned to the gate to get help. That's pretty much it."

„What I don't understand,..." Said General Landry thoughtfully, „...is why she stepped onto the ice in the first place." He shot a short glimpse into a paper record laying infront of him.

„In this record of major Broody is written, that SG-7, which visited the planet before, warned you the ice could be unstable and also that possible earthquakes could occur. Why did Vala walk out on the lake anyway? Was there any particular reason?" Asked the General interestedly.

„Ehm..." Said Mitchell but then fell into silence again. The General waited patiently, but when no reply came, he saw there obviously might be a problem with the answer. He therefore asked again, although this time, he asked an appearently more suitable question.

„Col. Mitchell? Is there any problem why you don't want to answer the question?"

„No sir, it's just...we had kind of a rift on the team." Cam said at last. He was looking awkward, his eyes looking everywhere but at the General.

General Landry raised his eyebrows.

„A rift? Would you care to explain?"

„It was not a rift on the team, it was an argument between me and Vala." Interrupted Daniel sullenly.

„Excuse me doctor Jackson?" Asked the General surprisedly.

„Cam said it was a rift on the team. The truth however is, that itwas an argument between me and Vala." Explained Daniel in a bit hostile tone.

Cam couldn't help but roll his eyes on Sam. He knew where this was going and he also knew the rest of them wouldn't like it. Daniel, oblivious of Cam's expression, hastened to talk further.

„It was about the mace, sir. As you surely noticed, me and Vala haven't been on good terms with each other lately. I was still angry with her when we went on that mission and I couldn't restrain myself and started to drop stupid remarks which resulted in provoking her. We then argued and she, wanting to prove me a point, stepped onto the ice and refused to come back." Daniel gave a quick sigh but hurried to continue so no one had the chance to stop him.

„So at this point, I hereby say, that this whole mess is utterly my fault. I provoked the whole situation and I take full responsibility." Finished Daniel stubbornly.

„Col. Mitchell? Anything to add?" Asked the General, a slight dislike audible in his voice.

„Yeah." Said Cameron in a cool tone while throwing deadly glares over the table at Daniel.

„I think it neccessary to say, that I wasn't able to master the situation and I underestimated the possible danger of a rift on the team while going offworld."

„General, we all were pretty tense and unnerved, but even despite the argument, I believe it was really an accident. I mean, nobody could really predict the quake was coming and would be that violent. Otherwise, the ice would most probably hold Vala's weight." Added Sam, desperatelly trying to save the situation.

„Would you two quit it?! Stop...Stop taking the blame on yourself!!" Stuttered Daniel over his words in anger, turning his head in denial, then shooting a deadly glare at Mitchell.

„And stop trying to blame it on the conditions!" He snapped, giving his second glare to Sam.

„You've both been there, you've both tried to stop us but we just wouldn't listen! I called her reckless, I called her a liar, and that's the reason she took the risk! We all know that!" Daniel didn't even notice how he got up, but he realized he was standing and half-shouting. He sudden rush of shame washed over him and he slowly sunk into his chair again.

„You are not the only one who cares about her Daniel." Said Sam quietly. There was again, silence. Then, Mitchell spoke up.

„Yeah, Sam's damn right. And you know what? I feel guilty too! Like it or not, but I am still the boss and so I should have put a stop on you two right at the begining, kicking both of your asses for how stupid it was to fight, not to mention to fight OFF-WORLD! But instead, I stepped back and let it go that far. You think I am happy about that now?? And here's another thing. Sam was right, nobody could have predicted the quake, without which it may have never happened. We are a team, we do decission and we do them together! Everybody could have done something to prevent it, nobody did though. We can't change that now so quit arguing about who takes the blame like it was a contest of who cares more, because it's stupid and it's humiliating! It surely won't help the team and sure as hell won't help Vala!" Finished Mitchell impassionately.

There was a silence at the table. Daniel was looking at Cam angrily, but finally decided to keep his mouth shut. Sam had tears in her eyes and was glaring at the table and Teal'c looked as always. Very serious, very quiet.

The General had had enough. He has never seen his best team bite each other like this. They were almost always unanimous on decissions, at least decissions that really mattered. What the hell happened in the past 48 hours that could change them like this?

„Anybody else who would like to add something juicy or to take the blame on himself?" Asked General Landry wryly through gritted teeth.

„May I have the word, General Landry?" Asked Teal'c in his deep calm voice.

„If it is anything constructive, go ahead son!"

„I believe, that nobody's action could really have pretended what would happen. As Col. Mitchell correctly pointed out, everybody of us could have intervened but nobody really did. As for this, I think we all share the blame. I believe that this confrontation arised from the frustration and fear for Vala Mal Doran's well being, which every member of SG-1 must be feeling in this moment. However, I believe that we are forgetting about something very important. No matter how bad we feel ourselves about what happened, the fact remains, that it was Vala Mal Doran's own decission and free will to step on the ice and risk her life. In result, she takes as much blame for the consequences of her actions as the rest of uch. I also believe, that Vala Mal Doran would agree with me on this, as well as feel utterly unhappy and disappointed if she saw the rest of us arguing over something that she partly caused, as well as something that can't be changed anymore."

Teal'c ended his speech and felt into silence again. The whole room was so quiet so if a needle fell to the ground at that moment, it could have been heard. Everybody was shocked at Teal'c's speech; partly because of the length and elocution of their friend's address, who they never heard to deliver such a long speech before, as well as when the meaning of his words struck them all hard.

It really had no point arguing about the cause, everybody had a share, as well as coincidence and nature itself. The first one to come to words again was the General.

„Well said son."

Teal'c bowed his head.

„Now, as we cleared things out, I suggest you all return to your quoters, offices or labs again and continue your base work. Untill recall, SG-1 is called off off-world travel and mission duty. Colonel Carter, doctor Jackson, I believe there is plenty of work for you to do on base, Teal'c, you are free to do what you wish, although I believe doctor Parker could use your help with some goauld and jaffa translations. As for you Col. Mitchell, you pretty much lay behind on your paper work, so I propose you'll use the free time to catch up on it. I am awaiting it to be damn good and comprehensive reports."Said the General briskly.

Then he added more kindly: „Of course, you are all free to visit miss Mal Doran in the infirmary anytime and for how long you wish. Dismissed!"

General stood up and quickly left the briefing room. There was silence again, everybody was sheepishly looking at everybody. Finally, Daniel decided to break the silence.

„I am sorry." He addressed Cam and Sam.

„Yeah, me too." Replied Sam.

„Same here." Added Cam. They all looked at Teal'c, waiting for the Jaffa to say something as well.

„I have nothing to apologize for." He said resolutely, obviously misinterpreting their looks. Cam and Sam glanced at each other and gave a small, muffled giggle.

„Jeez T, that was hell of a speech you gave us there!" Said Mitchell appreciatively after the giggles subsided.

„Thank you. I used to be told if not being a Jaffa, I would do a spectacular orator." He said in all seriousness.

Sam and Cam started to giggle even harder. Even Daniel conjured up a smile. Teal'c raised an eyebrow.

„Is there any particular reason not to believe my words?" Teal'c asked in a serious tone.

„Why don't we give a visit to the infirmary and ask our dear doctor Lam how the patient's doing?" Proposed Cam, obviously avoiding the answer.

„Great idea!" Supported him Daniel.

„I am with you guys." Concluded Sam.

The three of them quickly jumped to their feet, already heading out.

„Ya coming with us?" Asked Cam at the door.

„Indeed." Replied Teal'c, yet he sounded kind of discontended.

They all made their way towards the infirmary, using the time to continue on the subject of how Teal'c or another member of the team could surprise them everyday with something new, some yet unknown fact about themselves. Every member of SG-1 was enjoying this silly, insignificant conversation, because it brought them close again. They once again had the feeling of familiarity and intimacy they so desperately needed in situations like these, when one member of their group was injured or missing. This feeling of closeness and understanding gave them the will and hope to go through almost anything. Exactly this was the mysterious strengh that made SG-1 the best and unique team.

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Daniel was at his office. It was late afternoon, but here, hundreds of metres underground, he could tell only due to his watch and the slowly emptiing corridors.

The four of them agreed to take shifts at Vala's bedside in the infirmary. It was not for the hope she would wake up, she was still heavily sedated, but it was a custom, an unwritten rule of their team. Somebody got hurt – they would keep him company, no matter if he was conscious or not, until he woke up.

Daniel's turn would start on a couple of hours. He asked the rest of his team if he could take the night shift. It had more benefits to Daniel that way. Firstly, he had a good reason not to fall asleep, so the chances his nightmare would return were slim, secondly, the infirmary with Vala as the only patient, as well as the rest of the SGC, would be pretty quiet, so Daniel wouldn't need to worry somebody could overhear what he might or might not say to Vala some 4 am while being drowsy and sleepy.

So here he was, at his office, and still had a couple of hours left. Daniel was trying to get some work done, he really did, but he just couldn't concentrate. His muscles were still aching from the tiring journey to the gate through the storm, he was deadly tired because of the lack of sleep last night, and his brain was busy thinking about the one person ocupying his mind for the past few weeks anyway. He sighed and decided to go and get some coffee, when the alarms suddenly went on.

„Unscheduled off-world activation! General Landry, please to the gate room! Repeat: Unschedulled offworld activation!"

Daniel was about to take off, just out of habit, but then stopped in his tracks. He decided to take a raincheck on this one. If he was needed, they would call him anyway. He turned around to take his mug and was about to made his way to the coffee maschine, when the radios went on again.

„All members of SG-1 immediately report to General Landry in the briefing room! Repeat: All members of SG-1 immediately report to General Landry in the briefing room!"

Daniel cursed, roughly putting the mug on the table, and set out in quick pace towards the briefing room. Half way through, he almost bumped into Teal'c and Sam, who were also heading the same direction. Cam caught up on them just before they were to enter the briefing room.

The sight of who was sitting in the room made Daniel stop dead in his tracks, causing Cam to stumble over Daniel's feet and cursing loudly in the process of ungraciously flying into the room and landing on the ground.

However, nothing of this caught Daniel attention, because of the sight of who was sitting in the room. There they were, the people that caused him so much distress over the past few days. Sitting at the table with General Landry, there was the mayor with two of his councillors, accompanied by a shy, sheepishly looking young boy; Tabuti.

TBC

_NA – Hahaa, now that is what I call a cliffie!!! evil grin_

_I hope you liked this chapter. I personally think there might be some rifts between the team members, always occured to me it was kinda strange they all could agree on almost anything, and I dont know, I think this was was suited, but hey, its you whose opinion I want to hear! _

_So let me know if you liked it, didnt, or any other thoughts!_

_PS – As you can surely see, we are finally getting somewhere with this, so yeah, I am finally going to explain the whole mystery behind the mace. I am already kinda nervous about that, since you guys have been waiting for it for so long, your most probably are expecting some BOMBASTIC explanation._

_But hey, again, the most reasonable explanations are always the most simple ones, right? ;)_

_Hope to see you all soon, kiss Liz _


	12. Confessions and Guilt

**Sandra – **Hmm,tak neviem ani za nic co si pomyslis o tejto kapitole,ale pls,maj na zreteli ze som to pisala okolo druhej v noci.:D A hlavne,ked sa ti nebude pacit tato,vedz ze uz je napisana dalsia a ta sa ti dufam bude pacit. Aspon koli jednemu detailu. :) Ale teraz, samozrejme, nasleduje tato.

**All – Namaste! **Finally, my finals are oficially over, and I passed my BA degree. Unfortunatelly, I had to sleep for a couple of days to be finally able to get myself do some SERIOUS work, like writing the new chapter. :) This one is rather short, but the explanation for this can be found at the end in AN. Hope you will like this one, although I have to admit, I have my doubts, especially about one issue, but hell, it just felt right while writing. :) Hope you will like it, or at least not find it out of place, as well.

Have a nice reading and please, as always, leave a review if you find the time to do so. All reviews are cheered. :)

**ALL – **Everybody, who likes great fanfiction, Vala and Adria – I highly recommend the fantastic story of Zeitoon - Many a Dream Extinguished – it is definitely worth to read – beautiful!

**Leenie** – Shukran, habibti! You are still the best! LOVED all the changes you made, you are a writters dream!

**Hazmot** – Thank you for your support, you are my bad conscience, but a very neccessary one. :)

**PS – Man, I almost forgot, in this chapter, you FINALLY get to read the explanation of the whole mace issue, hope you wont be disappointed, but as written previously, the most reasonable explanations are mostly the easiest ones. :)**

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 11 – Confessions and Guilt

Daniel was sitting in the briefing room and listening to what the councilors were saying but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't believe it. He _wouldn't_ believe it. Because if he did, he would have to admit to himself that he had exhibited one of the biggest lapses of judgment in his life. He – Mr. Incredible, Mr. Know-it-all, Mr. I'm-never-wrong, the respected archeologist with the insuperable sense for justice and judgment, he, doctor Daniel Jackson, had committed a foolish mistake. He, probably for the first time in his life, had mistrusted his heart, and for no better reason than his shameful, pitiful fear of getting hurt. Instead, he had decided to trust some rather questionable evidence based on the testimony of strangers, rather than trust someone who had proven to be trustworthy on so many occasions. To make things worse, everyone else around him had chosen to trust their gut feeling and reject the possibility that one of their own would lie. Everyone except him, that is.

But no matter how much he wished all of this was just another troubling nightmare, he had finally come to the mortifying conclusion that this, indeed, was real

The mayor had, for a couple of minutes now, been reiterating how very sorry his people were for accusing Earth of stealing their mace. He hoped Earth was kind enough to understand the grief and anger caused by the sudden loss of his planet's most sacred object.

Nothing of this was, however, really reaching Daniel's ears. Vala was innocent after all and Daniel, the one person she had always desperately turned to with her trust issues, had let her down.

"...So by lying to you, Tabuti was trying to cover his father's theft and used the arrival of one of our SG teams as a perfect opportunity to shift the blame on us." Finished General Landry thoughtfully, then continued, maintaining a tone that indicated he wanted to clear things out once and for all.

"I still don't understand this man's motive. What did the boy's father presume to gain by stealing the mace?"

"Well, we are still not sure ourselves, but we think he reasoned that stealing the mace would bring chaos and instability to our system, since the mace is the very embodiment of the council's rule. He would then use the chaos to lure some other greedy administrators onto his side, hoping they could overthrow the council and claim rule for themselves," answered the mayor.

"He wouldn't have done it if you hadn't created such difficult and almost impossible qualifications to satisfy in order to become councilor," said Tabuti defensively, his voice shaking with fear but also with anger.

"Silence!" Shouted both councilors ruthlessly at Tabuti, making the boy shrink even more in his seat, if that were even possible.

The boy's eyes searched the room for sympathetic looks. The people around him were so nice when he had met them, maybe they could help, and maybe they would understand and forgive...

In his desperate search for support, Tabuti cast his gaze upon Daniel, who he remembered had been a kind, wise and reasonable man. He would surely understand his actions... and why he _had been forced to_ lie.

"Please Sir..." He shot Daniel an honest, pleading look and took the man by surprise.

"I am really deeply sorry! I had never intended to hurt anybody." His voice was shaking, and he was close to tears.

"When I saw my father steal the mace, I was petrified of his deed myself. But I was even more petrified when I though about the punishment he would have faced if he had been caught! Please, believe me, I tried to convince him to return the mace the instant you left, but he wouldn't listen!" But no matter how honest or sorry the boy was, he found no mercy in Daniel's eyes this time.

"I trusted you," said Daniel, his voice hard and despising.

"I know and I am sorry..." The boy's eyes were pleading with honest regret, but none of this could reach Daniel's furious mind.

"...I even trusted your word over hers," continued Daniel mercilessly.

"I am sorry!" Cried the boy in despair.

"You are _sorry_? _SORRY_?' Daniel laughed bitterly.

"I don't care! Just to be sorry is never going to be enough!" Daniel raised his voice at the boy, whose body was now trembling with sobs. Daniel knew very well though, that the meaning of his words was not just directed at the boy, but a reflection of his own guilt concerning the damage his previous actions had caused.

"Please understand, he is my father!"

"I DON'T CARE! SHE IS OUR FRIEND!" Yelled Daniel, right into the boy's face.

"Doctor Jackson! I have to ask you to calm down!" Interrupted General Landry sharply.

"Don't worry about that," said the mayor, ignoring Daniel's rude behavior towards the boy. "We understand your indignation. Don't worry, the boy is going to be punished _severely_..." It was more his tone and HOW he said the words that sent a chill down Mitchell's spine.

"...And of course, we utterly regret falsely accusing miss Mal Doran..." This time, it was Sam who didn't believe any word the man was saying.

"...Therefore, we would like to apologize to her in person. Is there a way to arrange that?" The mayor finished by looking around the table, as if asking why Vala wasn't present yet.

"I am afraid not," replied the General politely, although he disliked the mayor and his entourage already. There was something snobbish and false about them.

"I hope miss Mal Doran isn't angry with us. She surely understands we had no other choice," said one of the councilors, displaying a toothy smile. To Teal'c, it was more of a smirk and even General Landry had to doubt the man's honesty. The General once again gave the three old men a scouring glance. They all looked extremely aged and conservative that it made him slightly understand why the boy's father wanted a change. However, his actions couldn't be justified by any noble or aspiring causes.

"There's been an accident. Miss Mal Doran was severely injured on a mission. She is staying in our infirmary at the moment."

"Oh Valor! We are _so sorry_ to hear that," said the mayor contritely, but again, there was more drama to it than Daniel would have liked. Daniel's stomach turned when he heard the word 'sorry'again. How dare they come here and say they were 'sorry'?! What did they care about Vala? She meant nothing to them! So how dare they _act_ regretful? Daniel was really sick. He had been suffering from a cold lump in his stomach ever since this damned meeting had started and now he could feel a strong pounding headache beginning to harass his neurons . His vision was blurring slightly from the sudden onset of the headache. He needed fresh air - NOW. All of a sudden, he felt that the rather large briefing room was too crowded.

"...However, I still hope we will be able to continue our cooperation and sign our treaty as originally planned." The mayor smiled sweetly, and both the councilors nodded in unison. The General turned to Daniel for an answer. After all, he had initiated the talks for cooperation in the first place. However, Daniel seemed stuck deep in his thoughts, unable to catch the content of the conversation.

"Doctor Jackson? Do you agree with continuing the negotiations?" Asked the General once again, this time more loudly. Daniel looked up, directing his gaze at the three old men. They all looked sheepish, almost eager, a greedy look dancing up on their faces. Daniel had the feeling he saw these man for the first time in his life. He couldn't understand why he didn't see it earlier. _She _didn't like them from the beginning.

"Doctor Jackson? What do you say?" The General pressed Daniel for an answer.

"I don't care unless it has to do anything with me," said Daniel coldly. "I personally don't want to see them again." He rose from his chair and walked out of the briefing room before the General even had the chance to call him back.

"General?" Mitchell asked, already half standing.

"Dismissed." General Landry nodded as he watched Cam's quick escape, still a bit shocked by Daniel's behavior.

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Cam only caught up with Daniel at the door of Daniel's office, which was instantly slammed before him and almost hit Cam's face. Although Cam knew the gesture to stay out was made pretty clear, he didn't wait for an invitation and took the risk of stepping inside. What he saw there was a very irritated and frustrated archeologist walking quick circles around the table standing in the center of the room. He waited for a few moments for Daniel to acknowledge him, but Daniel seemingly didn't intend to do so, so Cam jumped into his way to make Daniel face him.

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Mitchell shouted putting his hands in the air in defense as he saw the menacing look on Daniel's face.

"You know, although this is probably not the right time to tell you, what you did in there was kinda rude, and the two of us gotta get our asses back in there and continue the meeting in a professional manner. Yes, regardless of how hard it is for all of us to deal with those false senile folks who kinda started this whole mess ending in Vala lying in the infirmary and who obviously don't give a damn. However, I think we don't have much of a choice here..."

"Ya think? Just watch me!" Responded Daniel stubbornly, pointedly bumping into his chair and giving Cam a mocking smile.

"Jackson, they are a diplomatic alien delegation! You can't do this. You will get yourself into serious trouble with insubordination!" Said Cam, knowing he was just trying to distract Daniel from the terrible state of mind Cam knew the archeologist was going through right now.

"You're now playing the military card? Sorry, won't work on a civilian. I don't want to ever see the "honorable" delegation again," said Daniel, his posture in the chair full of ridicule, however, his stare deadly serious.

He was strongly reminding Cam of somebody, but he didn't have the time to think about whom.

"Now get out and leave me alone Cam," said Daniel, barely mustering a calm voice.

"C'mon, stop that crap! I know you are feeling bad and guilty right now but we all are!" Said Mitchell, watching Daniel's face with concern as it turned grim and angry.

"LEAVE-ME-ALONE," said Daniel again, this time emphasizing each of his words solemnly.

"Stop being so stubborn Daniel! It is not your fault..."

"I don't want to talk about it!" Daniel shouted at Cam.

"Daniel, just be reasonable...," tried Cam, renewing the effort.

"I am warning you for the last time Mitchell, leave me alone!" Cried Daniel menacingly, clenching his fists.

"Oh c'mon, you can't be serious?!" Mitchell cried, a bit hysterically, as he watched Daniel's body tense up while his fists clenched together tightly once more.

"Just be reasonable..." Cam pleaded again oblivious of the fact that he had already voiced such a request earlier. "We don't have to return to the briefing room, okay, but we are gonna talk this over, deal?" Mitchell tried _everything_ to calm Daniel down. Under no circumstances would he leave Jackson alone right now, he knew what guilt could do to a person firsthand.

"Out," Said Daniel quietly, but the more menacingly.

Suddenly, it came to Cam. Daniel reminded him of no other than Vala herself. "You are being childish, you know that?! Shutting other people out is not going to help, it will worsen things. You know, in terms of hiding your feelings, you are even worse than Vala!"

Yes, Mitchell knew he shouldn't have said that even before the words left his mouth, but it was already too late. However, unlike Mitchell thought possible, the strength and subsequent pain from Daniel's punch into his face made him see stars. He bent over with a loud but muffled "Ow!", quickly bringing both of his hands towards his face.

"Do 'ou 'eel 'etter now?!?" Asked Mitchell angrily, cursing loudly and holding his face in both of his hands, the sharp pain never leaving his nose and left cheekbone.

"NO!" Daniel yelled, surprisingly.

"WHY do you people never do as you are told and leave when asked?! WHY does everybody always wanna talk with poor little Danny when he screws up?! WHY do you think I can't handle things by myself? WHY can't you leave me alone?!"

"'Ecause we 'anna 'elp!" Replied Mitchell resolutely, still holding his nose, which he worried was broken.

"And that's where you are wrong! I don't need your help!" Said Daniel angrily, however, more calmly this time. He turned away from Mitchell, brought his hands onto his hips and breathed heavily. Then turned to Mitchell once again.

"Just _please_, leave me alone for some time!" He added, then grabbed his car keys and jacket. Before leaving his office, he turned to Cam once more.

"I am sorry I punched you, it was nothing personal. But as you surely can see, I am at the edge with my nerves right now and I really need to be alone to calm down and clear my head, ok?" Daniel said to Mitchell half apologetically, half explanatory.

"And let Carolyn check that out." He added finally and pointed to Cam's bleeding nose. Daniel then walked out of his office, leaving there a very confused, aching Mitchell.

TBC

_AN – This one was __originally though as just half of a chapter, but for the sake of keeping the plot as little confusing as possible, I decided to post this as a whole one. A possible advantage – hopefully more regular updates.:)_


	13. Booze and Rules

**Sandra – **Hmm, prajem pekny edinburg! A hlavne, dufam ze si najdes cas si obcas precitat co nove v mojej story!:))))

**All – **This time, no big notes. Just read and enjoy. :) Hope this one won't sound too sappy or pathetic. But with me, you never know. Especially since I am having my Bollywood-phase right now. ;)

X hears the crowd fainting X

**Leenie – **Thank you again, you are brilliant.

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 12 – Booze and Rules

Daniel always considered himself a "cheap-drunk". At least everybody always told him so – especially when one small glass of wine usually made him all tipsy and cheerful. But right now, he was sitting at the bar, drinking his sixth beer in a row and he still wasn't feeling its effect at all. It was starting to annoy him. Today, when he _desperately_ _NEEDED_ to get drunk, all of a sudden he couldn't, no matter how much he tried. Hell, the universe must really hate him.

Nevertheless, he had to admit that he did feel a bit woozy and that his head was indeed spinning, but that wasn't the point, was it? The major side effect he had been anticipating continued to elude him. Hell, he wasn't even close. His thoughts were swirling wildly in his head and his heart ached from a guilt he didn't think he would be able to bear any longer. He just wanted to take a break, STOP thinking for a second. He wanted to pause before facing the consequences of his actions. But the bloody alcohol wasn't helping. Instead of getting numb, he felt even more miserable than he had before. Damn! Wasn't this what alcohol was supposed to do to you? Make you all numb and forgetful when you most needed it? Apparently not.

What about the cheerful, giggly goofiness he observed in drunken people all those times HE was the "proper" one who would drive everybody else home afterwards? It always worked that way with Sam, Jack or Mitchell, but not with him. Why not, dammit!

He drained the rest of the beer in one draft and decided it was time to order something stronger. He shouted at the barkeeper and pointed to the whiskey bottle behind the bar, raising two fingers. Just as the barkeeper was passing him the drink, Daniel felt a movement next to him and a male voice ordering a coke.

Daniel smirked. He knew that voice at once and he couldn't imagine a bigger cliché.

"Having fun?" Asked the voice next to him innocently.

"Sure. Wanna join me?" Daniel replied without redirecting his blurred vision away from the drink before him, the smirk never leaving his face.

"Not really. I can imagine spending my time more usefully," replied the man, this time however, with a strong dislike in his voice.

"Like fishing, you mean?" Asked Daniel mockingly.

"Yeah, exactly," replied Jack.

"Two questions. A – How did you find me here, since we both know this is not the first place you would normally look for me. And B – What the hell are you doing here?"

"A is a pretty dumb one and if you weren't drunk you would have probably figured it out yourself," replied Jack and patted a spot on the skin of Daniel's forearm, under which the SGC locating device was implanted.

"You're right. Pretty dumb. But unfortunately, I'm not drunk. I only wish I were," said Daniel, sounding more melodramatic than he intended to, probably due to the alcohol.

"How tragic! Just gimme a minute to dry my eyes,"said Jack, as he pulled a face and pretended to wipe off some tears.

"B?" Asked Daniel, sipping at his whiskey.

"That's your bad luck I guess. You chose a pretty stupid time to play drama queen; I was about to visit the SGC for a regular check up tomorrow. But hey, thank you so much for the sweet welcome and this lovely evening. This lousy bar is exactly every girl's dream," said Jack ironically.

Daniel gave a tipsy smirk. "You just called yourself a girl."

"Yeah. And now I am going to call _you_ a jerk," replied Jack angrily, then continued.

"What the hell do you think you're doing Daniel? I leave you for five minutes in the mountain and suddenly you've gone all macho? Distrusting a team member, disobeying Mitchell on a mission, breaking up the team, walking out on the General in the middle of a meeting with aliens and finally – beating the crap out of another team member? Finally, as a cherry on top, you end up crouching like a beaten dog with his tail between the legs in a bar, trying to get drunk? Man, I am impressed! Since when did you grow into such a moron, Daniel?" Ended O'Neill in a calm but snippy voice. Daniel didn't answer.

"With this kind of attitude, you're on the fast lane towards getting yourself kicked out."

Daniel shrugged sadly. At that moment, Jack sighed and gave his best friend a close look.

"Ok, I tried to play the bad cop, but i guess that's not the kind of pep talk you need right now, huh?" Sighed Jack once again.

Daniel was staring into his glass, his eyes watery. Jack could not decide whether his friend's condition was alcohol-related or if it meant something more, but what he knew right now was that his friend was in a really bad shape and needed help.

"I've heard what happened," started Jack uneasily. "I'm sorry." Daniel nodded, and then drained the rest on the glass into his throat.

"I screwed up Jack," said Daniel, his voice barely a whisper, his eyes never leaving the now empty glass.

"Welcome to the club," said Jack with a smile, but his attempt to ease the situation failed miserably.

"You don't understand. I REALLY screwed up this time," said Daniel, all serious.

He hadn't even noticed when he had started to talk, which was one of the things he loved but also hated about Jack O'Neill. He always got him to talk, even when Daniel didn't want to.

"I should have trusted her, supported her. Everybody else did except for me. And it was always ME who she came for support and sooner or later, I always gave in and it always turned up to be a good choice. I really can't figure out why this time, I didn't. I really don't know, but hell I know I should have. It's my fault she is lying in the infirmary, and there is no way I could ever make this right again, " said Daniel miserably, his eyes still staring at the glass, oblivious of the intense look Jack was giving him.

"Do you love her?" Asked Jack all of a sudden, however, his tone was casual. The question brought even the tipsy Daniel into alert.

"Wha-What??? How did THAT idea cross your mind?!" Asked Daniel wide-eyed.

"Just asking," shrugged Jack innocently. "And?"

"And what?"

"Do you?"

"Do I what?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "Well, do you love her, dummy!?"

"What? NO! Most of the time, I can't even stand her. She drives me crazy!"

"What does that have to do with it?"

"Huh?"

"Well, I drive you crazy all the time and still you love me!" Said Jack confidently, giving Daniel a forty-tooth-smile.

"Not right now, I don't!" Daniel snorted and looked into his glass again. After a moment, however, his features gained a more thoughtful and gentle expression.

"No Jack. It's not like that. I...I don't love her. I just..." Daniel sighed heavily, searching his mind for a suitable expression: "I think that I just...care about her. As a close friend. That's all."

"Care about her, huh?" Repeated Jack pensively, then added quietly to himself. "...a lot more than you are supposed to Danny? Silly lie that is. Been there, done that..."

"What did you say?" Asked Daniel, curiousity winning over him for once.

"Nothing, " said Jack innocently, giving Daniel one of his best falsely sweet smiles. Then the two of them sat in silence, Jack deliberately leaving Daniel time to think their conversation over.

"Okay!" Jack clapped his hands at last. "Time to return back to the mountain! Your shift starts in about...", he gave his watch a quick glance and then frowned, "...now. I give you ten minutes to refresh yourself and do something to that weird hairdo of yours and then I will drive you back to the mountain, agreed?"

"What shift?" Asked Daniel, confused.

"I mean 'the rule' Daniel," said Jack. Still, he could see from Daniel's face that he didn't get it.

"'_The rule_' Daniel! SG-1's rule stating that nobody should be left alone when injured! Now get your ass up and lets get going, silly!" Said Jack, unaware that his last words just touched a sensitive spot in Daniel. Suddenly, Daniel slumped into his chair, giving the whiskey bottle a longing stare once again.

"Hello? Earth to Spacemonkey? Hey, Daniel! Get your ass up and let's go!" But all of a sudden, Daniel didn't look too eager to go anywhere anymore.

"Listen Jack, I'll take a rain check today, ok? It's more of a favor really. I doubt Vala would want me anywhere near her anyway," said Daniel. The self-pity in Daniel's voice disgusted and angered Jack to his very core. He didn't know whether it was the alcohol's effect or Daniel himself causing him to whine this way, but he sure as hell didn't like it and wanted to put a stop to it that instant.

"You want what???" Jack shouted at Daniel, taking him by surprise.

"Take a _WHAT_!? A _RAIN-CHECK_!? What the hell do you think this is? I am not inviting you to a candlelit dinner, and there is NO excuse! And I am also not _ASKING _you to do this, I am _ORDERING_ you to get you ass to the mountain right now and do your job! How many times did Teal'c, Sam or me kept you company when YOU were hurt? How many times did we sit at your bedside, trying to catch a nap on those bloody uncomfortable chairs? Damn, how many times did Vala sit there herself? It's not just your duty Daniel, and it's also not because you owe her, it's because this is what SG-1 does, what we as friends do for each other, and God knows that as long as I am alive, nobody will break that rule!"

Before Daniel had any chance to react, Jack caught his breath and continued his angry speech.

"I am sick of you Daniel! I mean, look at yourself! You always said you hated it when people pitied you, but now, you don't even need others to pity you, you doing a pretty good job at that yourself! What's the matter with you? Ok, you screwed up, so what? Boo-hoo. I mean, who hasn't, so what's the big deal? Now let me tell you; YES, you REALLY screwed up! But instead of drowning yourself in self-pity, you are going to spend all the energy you've wasted on your own drama on Vala instead. After she wakes up, you are going to be sweet, patient and helpful and fulfill her every crazy petty wish. And guess what; you are going to love it! You will do whatever it takes to make it up to her, and without any complaining, understood?" Finished Jack, and although he knew he sounded confident, he really had NO idea how Daniel would react. To Jack's pleasant surprise, Daniel nodded sheepishly.

Daniel didn't know why, but Jack's speech really made him feel better. It wasn't just the right slap in the face that made Daniel flush and think about how stupid he was behaving, but also the fact that Jack talked about Vala's awakening so naturally, as if it were inevitable. That fact, however silly, made Daniel feel a bit more content and comfortable.

Finally, he gave Jack a smile and got up from his chair. Jack O'Neill was definitely a friend to turn to in Daniel's need.

One hour and two coffees later, Jack finally dropped Daniel off at the mountain, of course not without a biting remark wishing him a good and '_comfortable'_ night on the hard infirmary chairs.

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The infirmary was as quiet as it had been the night before. All was silent, except for a quiet snore emanating from behind the dividing curtain. When Daniel pulled it away, he saw Mitchell slightly rocking in one of the notoriously uncomfortable chairs, sound asleep, with his feet up against the edge of Vala's bed. Cam was snoring due to a heavy bandage attached to his nose. Daniel felt a strong sting of shame resulting from his recent rather recurring loss of temper. He came closer to Mitchell's still body and noticed for the first time the objects resting in Cam's lap. They were a bundle of popular star magazines Cam was obviously reading to Vala before he fell asleep. Again, Daniel felt a wave of guilt wash over him. This guy really must care about Vala deeply. And was that a light hint of jealousy that just washed over him as well? His previous conversation with Jack came to his mind again, but he brushed those thoughts away. At least for now.

He laid his hand on Cam's shoulder and shook it slightly. The other man awoke and blinked a few times, finally focusing his gaze at Daniel. With the nose bandage, he looked really grotesque, but Daniel didn't dare smile, not to mention laugh.

"Jackson?" Asked Mitchell sleepy.

"Hey. Sorry I'm late. I am taking over now. Go home and get some sleep," whispered Daniel. Cam got up and stretched his arms and legs, then yawned. Before leaving, he passed one of the magazines to Daniel.

"I stopped at page 9 I think," He said, his voice completely serious. Then he turned to leave.

Daniel however, stopped him. "Cam?"

"Yeah?" Mitchell turned, stretching his arms lazily again.

"I am really sorry about..." He pointed at Cam's face. "I hope the nose isn't broken..."

Mitchell waved his hand dismissively. "It's alright. Survived worse. Once, I got kicked by a cow right in the face. Believe me, THAT was bad. And by the way, no, the nose is intact. Your lucky, 'cause my granma would have made you pay for the plastic surgery otherwise. She likes my pretty face." He gave Daniel a toothy smile, then continued in a more serious tone.

"Plus, it was my fault really. You made yourself pretty clear about wanting me out." He gave Daniel another honest smile that was meant to let Daniel know he wasn't angry, for which Daniel was grateful. Daniel returned a sheepish smile of his own.

"But man, I've gotta tell ya, that's a pretty dangerous right hook you have there!" Added Mitchell. "Have you been doing some serious weightlifting lately?"

Daniel though about the question for a second, then shrugged and gave Cam a mischievous smile.

"Not that I know of."

Mitchell gave Daniel a cheeky smile and was about to leave, when he suddenly remembered something.

"Lord, I almost forgot! While fixing my face, Dr. Lam told me she had performed some tests on Vala. Nothing too serious, but she had tested some of her reflexes – whether her pupils reacted to the light, her nerve reflexes and so on. I didn't understand much, but from what she told me, all the tests went well. She also said the positive results may be a very good sign, but we shouldn't get too excited. Anyway, tomorrow is the big day – she is going to try to unplug Vala from the respirator. So cross your fingers!" He gave Daniel a thumbs-up and left.

Daniel let himself sink into the chair in which Cam had been previously seated and he tried to make himself comfortable. Then he gave Vala a gentle look.

"I'm sorry I'm late," he said quietly.

"And I am sorry for not believing you," he added, suddenly convinced she may hear him. He really hoped she would be ok. She had to be. Still, he could not ignore the nagging thought Jack had implanted in his head earlier. Daniel really didn't know what to think anymore: it was all so freaking confusing! They were...SO WRONG for each other! And at the same time, it somehow felt right.

He smiled when he remembered what Jack ordered him to do after she woke up. He drove nearer to the head of her bed, suddenly feeling the urge to be close to her. Daniel slowly rested his head at the edge of her cushion as silently as possible, as if scared to wake her up, although he knew it was impossible at the moment. Her face only inches away from his own, Daniel suddenly couldn't remember the last time he was so close to a woman yet felt so comfortable at the same time. Then he smiled at the thought that he was actually _comfortable _nearVala probably just because she was asleep and couldn't harass him or tell him off, of course in her own sweet way.

As he lay there, so close to her face and hair, a familiar scent reached his senses. It was not too long ago that he smelled it in the forest. But to Daniel, it seemed like ages had passed since. He sighed and allowed himself the luxury of remaining in his current position for a couple of moments, wondering how on earth it was possible for Vala to maintain that scent despite being in the infirmary, a strictly sterile environment. After a while, however, he reluctantly withdrew his head from her pillow and directed his gaze at the magazines Mitchell left behind. Daniel cleared his throat and begun reading out loud.

"Okay. What do we have here...Aha..page 10..Alright. Yadda, yadda, yadda...Wow, these headlines are _really_ big...mmm...and also too many pictures for my liking, but okay..." He was leafing through the magazine, trying to find something interesting, then stopped at the biggest headline he could find.

"Well, ok. This sounds interesting..._The Jollie-Pitts adopted again!_" Daniel said with all the enthusiasm he could muster. Then, he frowned.

"Ehm, Vala? Who the hell are the _Jollie-Pitts_?"

TBC

_AN – Okay, was it too sappy? Was Jack staying in his character? I have my doubts...I kinda hoped it would be far easier to write his part...well, i guess I kinda over-estimated myself.._

_Anyway, I hope I didn't screwed up too much...pls let me know, especially when you think this is too sappy, I don't like sappy. At least most of the time that is. :)_

_Ok, let me know whatcha ppl think._

_Hope to meet you all soon. Kiss, Liz_

_PS – I hope you enjoyed also the quick update, BUT, don't get used to it, lol, this was an exception, since I wrote both, the yesterday and this chapter in one evening. No idea when the next will be up, but __I hope it will be very soon myself.:) Till then, have a nice time._


	14. Memories and Research

**Sandra – **Tak co? Ako je v Edinburgu? Robotu uz mate? Este si len vcera odisla a uz mi zacinas chybat. Bollocks! Nezabudni ma update-ovat ohladom teba a hlavne toho co si myslis o mojich novych chapteroch, hehe!

Drz sa, love you, Leusa!

**All – **Have fun reading and let me know your thoughts. :) You readers out there are just great! I love you all your lovely folks!

**Leenie – **You are my rock. Can't await to read the new story of yours, so hurry up, lol. :D

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 13 – Memories and Research

_Daniel was dreaming again. However, this time it was different. __His dream wasn't bizarre or anything of the sort. On the contrary, it consisted of short tiny snippets of his memories, which he viewed as an outside observer. _

_The memory replay started somewhat pleasantly, his mind digging up memories of situations, in which a certain dark-haired woman graced him with all sorts of charming irresistible smiles and deep meaningful looks._

…_all those hearty grins that indicated she was only mocking him when she told him he looked silly in his new sun glasses… _

…_hidden yawns that told him she was fed up with his long boring lectures but didn't want to let him know lest she hurt his feelings …_

…_genuine smiles full of trust in his opinion while he discussed something considering the SGC…_

…_dreamy grins being shot __in his direction during long and boring briefings…_

… _her gentle look when he told her about the loss of his wife to the Goa'uld…_

… _her cheeky grin when they beat the dragon…_

… _her lips pouting when she literally "bathed" in Merlin's treasure…_

…_the twinkle in her eye whenever she was teasing him and he bought it…_

…_her wide sincere smile when she decided to share her last remaining cookie with him while they waited on a boring off-world mission…_

…_the furtive glimpses she gave him whenever they had a team night-out and she had had a little too much to drink and him pretending to ignore them…_

_.. her shameless grins whenever she embarrassed him…_

…_the somewhat understanding stare she gave him when they kissed in the forest…_

_And then, the dream suddenly changed and more disturbing memories started to emerge from his subconscious._

…_the countless arguments they__'ve shared and the many things he called her during fits of rage…_

…_the scornful sneers he gave her, reminding her that she would fail when she tried to do something her own way…_

…_her hur__t expression after the supercilious lecture he gave her on why she was behaving the way she was when he found her in his room clad only in pink nightwear…_

…_her pleas for his trust when he left her in the frozen cave, and how he ignored them entirely…_

…_how he shouted at her in front of the rest on the team…_

… _his sudden ironic remark in the Mace room that caused her to hit her head against the stone pedestal…_

… _his mocking remarks about her past or the truthfulness of her intentions…_

…_all those times he shooed her __away from his office with the excuse of having work to do although he was clearly free, and although he knew she was bored to death…_

… _all those times he doubted her honesty and good intentions.…_

_All those memories __finally culminating in the one, worst of all– how her voice trembled and cracked when she asked him to believe she was not a thief anymore whilst the ice was breaking underneath her feet and how she disappeared in the dark water leaving him standing on solid ground, mortified at that sight…_

…_how the doctor performed CPR, …then told them Vala had retained severe injuries she may not survive from, how that if she did manage to pull through, she may have suffered permanent brain damage, ...the piercing beeping of her monitors as the doctors rushed in trying to fix her and failed – how they later joined SG-1 in the waiting room and told them they did everything they could but Vala's injuries were too severe and she could not be saved…_

Daniel jerked from his dream his head shooting up from wherever it was previously resting. His heart was pounding heavily, and cold streams of sweat were running down his spine. It took him just a second to figure out where he was - the infirmary – and another second to realize Vala was still there, resting at the infirmary bed looking peacefully asleep although that was not the case.

Daniel let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and crushed his head back onto the edge of the bed with a great relaxed sigh escaping his lips. The last part was NOT a memory.

He lifted his head and gave Vala a long look.

"You scared the hell out off me in that dream, do you know that? If you keep this up, I am going to have to double my coffee dosage." He said softly with a smile, although his insides were twitching at the memory of the dream.

"Good morning Doctor Jackson," came a strong voice from behind the curtain, which revealed the form of the day nurse, Peterson.

Daniel gave her a sleepy smile hoping the energetic nurse didn't see him jerk awake from his dream or hear any of the previous words devoted to her patient. It was nothing personal, but Nurse Peterson retained the reputation of being the largest gossip within the medical ward, and he really didn't want word to spread that he was troubled by stupid dreams.

"Have you been here all night?" Asked the nurse curiously, her eyes inquisitively searching Daniel's eyes, Vala, the bed and finally the ground, where they rested on the pile of magazines that must have slipped from Daniels grasp when he fell asleep. The nurse bent down and picked the magazines before Daniel had a chance to collect them himself and with an amused knowing look handed them to a slightly flushed Daniel.

"What time is it?" Asked Daniel stretching his stiff limbs.

"It's only 6 something am." Answered the nurse politely while taking Vala's chart and checking her vitals, then writing them down into the chart. Then, as though oblivious of Daniel's presence, she took a small tray carrying some medical instruments, some solution , gauze and bandages and begun to remove the thick dressings from Vala's hands. Daniel averted his gaze, all of a sudden he felt strange, like looking at Vala's exposed hand would somehow intrude her privacy. _Well, maybe it really would in some way…_

Daniel jumped to his feet grabbing the magazines and decided to take a walk, grab some coffee, maybe even food in the cafeteria, maybe even stop by his office and do some work before returning here again.

"Excuse me, Nurse Peterson, but do you know when Doctor Lam is going to come in?" Asked Daniel already behind the curtain, once again peaking his head behind it.

"She mentioned that she would be arriving here around 8 am, doctor," replied the nurse politely, before returning to her work.

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The morning went by exceptionally slow. After Daniel left the infirmary, he first went to the cafeteria where he asked for a triple shot of espresso and a chocolate muffin, _Vala's favourite_, he remembered, and then made his way to his lab. He grabbed some work, but could not concentrate, so he turned on his computer hoping to read some daily news online.

After he scrolled through several news pages but didn't find anything too interesting. He sighed heavily. He could not believe it but he actually felt… bored.

Unconscious of his actions, he started to spin around on his chair, looking around the room for something interesting to do. His eyes fell upon a flacon on the shelf, THE flacon to be exact, It was the one Vala had threatened to smash when he refused to join her to lunch the other day. He looked around and discovered that many of the objects in the room somehow reminded him of her – they were each connected with some kind of memory of her. How she had managed to "infiltrate" his office, leaving subtle traces of herself everywhere in such a short time, remained a secret to Daniel.

He looked around once more and his eyes fell upon the magazines he had started to read to Vala yesterday. He picked one of them up and flipped through it once more to the page that read – _The Jollie-Pitts adopted again_. Daniel furrowed his brow and read the headline again. THIS world – the gossip concerning famous people and all - was so strange to him…

He turned to his laptop again and typed the words: _Jollie-Pitt_ into Google.

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When Cameron walked into Daniel's office more than two hours later, he was utterly surprised to find Daniel at his computer browsing through some very hot pictures of Angelina Jollie.

"WOW Jackson! You never cease to amaze me!" Cried Mitchell from behind Daniel's back, making him jump on the spot.

"Cam! You scared the hell out of me!" Said Daniel, looking at Cam who still sported the thick bandage upon his nose.

Mitchell looked at Daniel's table and whistled. Instead of old parchment and dusty books, he saw the glamour magazines Daniel had brought Vala the previous day, each open to a different page in a chaotic manner.

"What's going on?" Asked Mitchell suspiciously, startled at the sight. The archeologist looked a bit sheepish, awkwardly collecting the magazines into a pile, then handing them over to Cam.

"I was…doing some trivial research…on those people. So next time, I know what you people are talking about," said Daniel defensively.

"I bet you were." Mitchell grinned, letting his gaze wander to the sexy image of Angelina on Daniels screen.

"What kind of research is that?" He tilted his head at the laptop behind Daniel.

"That…uhm.. Did you know that Angelina Jollie has a child with Brad Pitt, the guy who starred in that movie Teal'c likes…uhm…_Interview with the Vampire_? And that they've both already adopted 3 children, from 3 different countries…pretty cool, huh?"

"Well, If you say so…" Said Mitchell, giving Daniel a suspicious look and a wide grin, at the same time laughing inwardly. Daniel noticed Mitchell's look, dug his hands deep into his pockets and ducked his head confessing:

"Alright. I'm a guy too, ok?!" He shot a glance at his screen. "She IS pretty hot."

Cam laughed. "Well, now THAT is something General O'Neill won't believe!"

Daniel's eyes almost fell from his head in horror.

"Relax! Just joking. I see you have a thing for brunettes, huh?"

Daniel squinted at Cam and pulled a face, yet didn't comment.

"Any particular reason for your visit?"

"Mmmhmm…I just came back from the infirmary. Dr. Lam is going to unplug Vala from the respirator this afternoon at 2 pm," said Mitchell, adopting a more serious tone, and studying Daniel's face intensely.

"Will be there," replied Daniel in a casual yet firm tone.

"Ok. Wanna join Sam, T and I at a late breakfast?"

"Nope, thanks." Replied Daniel kindly.

"You sure?"

"Yep."

"Ok. See you later then."

"Sure. Oh, and Cam?"

"Yeah?"

"If it's not too much trouble, could you get me some red jello while your there?"

"You betcha." Mitchell smiled wildly. He didn't know what the General had told Daniel, but it seemed to have done wonders.

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The morning was going slow, but to Daniel surprise he spent it rather comfortably. He was finally able to do some work, and he managed to help doctor Cass on some research and advise the members of SG-7 on the proper behavior and customs of PX-759.

At noon, Sam and Teal'c came by to pick him up for lunch and they met with Jack and Cam at the cafeteria.

They spent the lunch in quiet casual conversation discussing work and Jack's job at Washington, although Daniel and Sam barely touched their food, resigning themselves to merely toying with it. All five of them continuously threw nervous glances at the cafeteria wall clock.

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All members of SG-1, accompanied by Jack, walked into the infirmary five minutes before 2 pm, Carolyn Lam and her two nurses were expecting them. Doctor Lam gave them a nod and a small supportive smile as gathered around Vala's bed, at the same time allowing the doctor and her nurses ample space.

Carolyn walked to the head of Vala's bed, putting on a pair of gloves while explaining her next steps to the small crowd.

"I am going to withdraw this tube…", she pointed to the tube leading to the ventilator, "…and exchange it for this tube." Carolyn pointed to a second tube she was holding in her hand. It was attached to another monitor.

"Thanks to this second tube, we will be able to see on the monitor, whether Vala starts to breathe on her own or not. If yes, we will observe her condition for some amount of time and if everything goes well and she stays stable, we will procede and remove the breathing tube completely, as well as start to lower her anesthetics dosage. If she does not breathe on her own right away, although we may have to give her body some time to react to the shortness of oxygen in her lungs and blood, we will put her again on the ventilator and try later. However, it would significantly lower her chances to restore to health."

She gave the group a short time to process the information she just voiced and then gave them a final look.

"Ready?"

They all nodded in unison.

Carolyn gently took hold of the ventilator tube attached to Vala's endotracheal tube, pushed the shutter and pulled it away with the deflated sound of seeping oxygen.

TBC

_A/N - __Ok, so this one is bit of a filler and I almost hated it while writing, but on the second though, it is not all that bad. BTW - Raise hands everybody who are by now somewhat annoyed with Daniel self-loathing and feeling of guilt /raises her hand/. Who else thinks that Leuska should FINALLY go on with the plot and concentrate on the story itself /raises her hand again/?  
_

_Ugh, ALRIGHT! You outvoted me! The next one – less guilt and more action. (hopefully ;)) _

_Oh, and yeah, the next chapter should be interesting, lol._


	15. Discontent and Small Steps

**Sandra – **Cau obluda. Laskavo mi prines fotku Nessie! A laskavo mi napis tvoju recenziu, lebo bude zle! Aspon taku ako minule:D Drz sa.

**All – **Hello everybody! So this is it! The next chapter! Firstly, biiig apology to all of you who had to wait for sooo looong. But you shall see that BRUTAL HOT SUMMER it is here! Its hotter than in Rome or Barcelona! That's pretty unfair….:( We are ALWAYS cooler. Temperature records in a century! 37 celsius degrees in shade! So my brain was too fried to write. It still is, but I don't care anymore, lol.

Secondly, sorry for ANY medical inaccuracies I made, ok, for probably biiig medical stuff I messed with – but hey, my field of study is completely somewhere else!!!

Anyway, read and enjoy. And review of course. ;)

**Leenie – **Again, you made some excelent points. Again, I tried to set them right, however, I don't know if the outcome will satisfy you. I very much hope it will. However, to be sure, please let me know. And remember Jacks words – Honesty is the best policy. ;)

And AGAIN, thank you so much!

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 14 – Discontent and Small steps

_Carolyn gently __took hold of the ventilator tube attached to Vala's endotracheal tube, pushed the shutter and pulled it away with the deflated sound of seeping oxygen._

Then, she replaced the ventilator tube with the the second tube, and then focused her eyes imediately on the monitor. There seemed to be nothing happening, but Carolyn was patiently waiting; knowing she needed to give the patient's body the time to realize it was cut off the oxygen and reacting to the new conditions.

The room was silent, the only sharp noises coming from Vala's monitors.

For quite a while, there was no change; neither good nor bad. The monitors were beeping as always, showing all present the vitals of the patient.

All of a sudden, one monitor started beeping menacingly.

"Sat's dropping," one of the nurses informed them, quickly scanning through the monitors with her eyes.

"Give her one milligram of Epi!" Ordered Dr. Lam.

The monitors started to roar even louder, emitting ear-piercing beeps throughout the room.

"Sat's still dropping; BP's down to 100 over 66," the nurse informed them and then she shot a look at Carolyn which indicated that she was awaiting new orders. Carolyn sighed quickly, and made the decision she thought was right.

"Give her one more Epi and one milligram of Atrophine," she instructed.

"Saturation still dropping, PB's 95 over 60, pulse is 134. She's gonna crash." Warned the nurse, a little louder than necessary.

"Prepare the crash cart," ordered Carolyn.

"Doctor Lam…," started the eldest of the nurses. "…she is not responding…"

"Give her some time, will you?!" Interrupted Carolyn sharply.

"C'mon Vala…c'mon…," she continued under her breath.

"Pulse 150, BP 85 over 55, sat's 70!" Warned one of the nurses.

Carolyn released an irritated sigh.

"Alright, let's put her on the vent again," she said yielding. She began taking the ventilator tube and trying to exchange it with the monitor tube, when somebody suddenly grabbed her hand and prevented her from doing so.

"Wait, Doctor Lam," said a calm stoic voice from behind her and Carolyn turned in surprise to see Teal'c standing there, holding her hand gently, but firmly. Everybody in the room shot Teal'c a multitude of shocked looks.

"Teal'c, we don't have ti-"

"Look," Said Teal'c, nodding his head in the direction of the monitors.

While everybody stared at Teal'c and wondered about his behavior, nobody in the room except Teal'c had noticed that the beeping had become quieter and more controlled. Carolyn shot a glance at one of the monitors only to see a steady breathing rhythm indicating the patient had restored her own breathing.

The room got all quiet again. Nobody dared to speak up, as if scared that a sudden noise could ruin the favorable change in the line of events.

"She is breathing on her own," said Carolyn, sighing in relief, her hand still frozen in mid-air, hovering over Vala's endotracheal tube.

"Sat's going up," one nurse informed them.

"BP's rising, pulse is steadying," completed another.

Carolyn checked all the monitors again, knowing very well that the rest of the people in the room were waiting for her final word. She knew her words held great impact, so she checked the monitors once again to be absolutely sure. Yes, everything was returning to normal.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we've got her back. She is breathing on her own, all vitals are retuning to normal. Let's just hope she will remain stable like this. If so, we may take the anesthetics down a notch," she finished, but the rest of room's occupants were still giving her expectant looks.

"It's a good sign," she said gently, nodding her head to emphasize her statement. Only then did she see their faces relax.

"So what now? Where will we go from here?" Asked Mitchell impatiently.

"Well…" started Carolyn thoughtfully. "…as I've said, if she stays stable, we will try to take her med's down to see if she wakes up."

"When?" Asked Jack, his tone betraying an impatience that matched Mitchell's.

Carolyn suppressed a smile that was threatening to form on her lips. The two men were really more alike than they ever knew. She allowed herself a moment to think about the question.

"We will wait until tomorrow. If nothing changes during the night, we will take her off the drugs in the morning."

"So she could wake up sometime tomorrow?" Asked Sam, hope evident in her voice.

Carolyn scrunched her face. Her situation was becoming difficult. How can she phrase her response so that they can fully understand it?

"Well, that is extremely unlikely, ..." She said at last, but before she got the chance to continue, she was yet again interrupted by a discontented member of SG-1.

"Why?" Asked Daniel irritated.

"Because right now, she is in a medical induced coma. Even after we take her off the medication, she most probably will remain comatose. Her body has had to deal with a lot in the past few days and it probably won't respond to external stimuli for a while."

"A while? How long is that?" Asked Mitchell. Carolyn sighed. She knew these people were only concerned for the well-being of their teammate and friend, however, their disgruntled questions were already starting to put her off.

"I can't tell you. Maybe a day, maybe a week, maybe a month. And maybe…," she said taking a deep breath before continuing, "she won't wake up at all. We don't know how much neurological damage she has suffered, especially since there is no real test to let us know for sure. This is a waiting game. I know you don't like it and trust me, I hate it as much as you do, but there is nothing for us to do right now but wait. Please, be _patient_," She emphasized the last word and the room became quiet once more.

"This is ridiculous!" started Daniel dismissively. "She didn't get shot with a staff weapon, she didn't suffer some alien unknow injury! There is no way she can't be treated in a better way! I mean; we've been all around the galaxy, we've seen all kind of things. Teal'c is on tretonin, free of the symbiote, something he wouldn't even dream of ten years ago, and there is so much more, so why don't you use some alien technology Carolyn? We have a workable healing device for christ's sake!" finished Daniel heatedly. However, after he saw the deadly look on Carolyn's face, he shut up at once.

"Are you indicating I am not doing my job well enough Dr. Jackson?" she said angrily, yet quietly.

"I didn't mean you…" Daniel started to back off.

"I am sorry your friend is hurt. And I am sorry there is not much to do but wait. But unfortunately, as 'ordinary' as Vala's injuries may be, we have to treat them by the best modus operandi we know so far, which in this case sadly, is waiting. And about the healing device, there is one little catch in your plan Doctor Jackson, since you are forgetting that the only person who is able to safely use the healing device is Vala."

Looking at their stern faces, she regretted her harsh words instantly, her features softening at once.

"Look. This is good news. She is breathing on her own and stable. Have faith in Vala and give her time," she finished in a quiet but gentle tone.

Then she added: "She's probably be better off unconscious anyway. She'll probably be in a lot of pain when she wakes up."

"A lot of pain?" Asked Sam, concern written all over her face.

"You have to consider all of the aspects of her accident. She has nearly drowned, has suffered serious frostbite on her hands and feet, has required multiple shocks from a defibrillator to jumpstart her heart, and until recently, has been attached to a breathing machine. She has suffered a head injury that was followed by brain swelling, and her whole system has shut down several times. Don't forget that her body still has to deal with the various cocktails of medicine we are giving her to keep her stable. On top of everything, she has evolving pneumonia, which gives us serious worries, and her temperature is increasing although we are doing everything we can to keep it at acceptable levels. Using some kind of alien technology on Vala, especially in her complicated medical condition, even in good faith , could in the end cause her more harm than good. We can never be absolutely sure what the effects of such technology could be, as well as we know that every human reacts differently on different kind of treatement. Trust me, this may not be the easiest, but definitely the safest way to go."

Carolyn finished and sighed again: she knew she had already said enough. All the faces in the room looked even gloomier than they had been before, although the seemed to finally understand. Neverthelles, she cursed herself inwardly. This dejection was not what she had wanted; this was after all supposed to be a good outcome.

"C'mon people. Half an hour ago, we didn't even know if she could breathe on her own. The fact that she can proves two things – first; we are giving her the right treatment, second; she is a fighter. She's made really good progress, hopefully the first in a line of positive results. Small steps people."

"You may stay here and keep her company if you want, but I would advise you to go get some rest or some work done. If I know you as well as I think I do, I know you're going to be keeping her constant company starting tomorrow, especially since she has a chance of waking up at any time since then. Don't worry, I will call you at once if anything changes."

With that, she left the infirmary heading to her father's office to tell him the good news.

TBC

_AN – Ok people. Now, what did you think of this one? And what do you think? Is Vala going to wake up? How soon? And if, is she going to be ok? C'mon, lets start a bet! Whoever gets the closest gets a reward!;) Ok, maybe just a – Nice work! – and an appreciative pat on the back, but hey, it will be fun, promise! BTW, I won't be around much in the next month, firstly going to vacation with my family – hiking into the mountains, sadly no internet :( - and then going off with my sis for 10 days to London! Yepeeee! We always wanted to make that trip, I am soo looking forward to it! I hope you all having a good time as well! Take care and let me know your thoughs. Liz_


	16. Headache and Dirty Glasses

**Sandra – **Love you girl, but you already know that, don't you? Uz aby si bola doma.

**Leenie – **Again, thanks for your indispensable and quick help! Hope the changes I made on your advice didn't make things worse than they originaly were. :) Please let me know what you think of them, ok?

**ALL - **Thank you for being so patient and sticking with me so far. I am really sorry it took me so long to write this, but there's been a lot of activity in my life recently with the vacations, holidays and all. Thank you for waiting. Hope you'll like this one, we are hopefully and finally getting somewhere with this and we are setting off to a whole new plot of the story.

Have fun reading and don't forget to let me know what you think! 

**Where the truth lies**

by- liz parker

Chapter 15 – Headache and Dirty Glasses

At first, she discovered a vague notion of her existence, a realization that she simply 'was'. Then she tried to remember who she was, and knew the answer at once. You always know who you are, you are simply being…_you_. And she knew her name was Vala…Mal Doran. _Yeah, Vala Mal Doran, a gorgeous, sexy inter-galactic thief. But the word thief was not a proper one… she was a 'merchant' of sorts. Where did the word 'thief' even come from? Somebody had given her that name… but whoever it was, she couldn't remember now… No; no; wait…actually she could…_an image of a man with ruffled light hair, glasses and a kind of annoyed expression appeared in her mind…But she could not remember anything more, not who he was nor how or even _if _she was related to him. Everything was so clouded and hazy.

Figuring out anything about her present situation, or something as basic as the current time of day seemed impossible: the mere act of 'thinking' was considerably more difficult and tiring that it ever had been. Her mind was slow-footed and foggy, her head and thoughts heavy and sluggish. She felt unbelievably tired and her head was madly spinning in the dark, which beckoned a sickening feeling to creep into her gut from the direction of her stomach.

It took her several more moments to realize the reason she couldn't see anything was because her eyes were closed. Her mind was only very slowly starting to clear up. Yet, she felt it beginning to drift away again, as if falling asleep. She concentrated all her remaining strength on staying awake, no matter how, where, when or why. She needed to invest her energy on this single action, as if guided by some instinct that indicated this was the right thing to do. After she felt confident enough she wouldn't drift into sleep again, she continued her struggle to gain more information about herself, her whereabouts, the time, and her condition.

She tried to open her eyes, quite a slow endeavor given her eyelids were heavy and disobedient. However, the light from 'outside' sent a sharp pang of pain through her head and forced them shut again. While she was recovering from the sudden pain, she started to become conscious of the sounds around her: silent beeping…multiple beeping sounds that grew louder with every second that went by, allowing her mind to become clearer.

Although she knew that for her head's sake, she shouldn't try to open her eyes again, as her lucidity improved even further, the curious, but also frightened part of her won over. Despite experiencing the pain in her head anew, she finally managed to fully open her eyes, squinting in order to sharpen her vision.

At first, she only saw white everywhere; white sheets, white bandages, white walls, white beds. Then her eyes finally located the source of the noises; several monitoring machines with wires attached to them leading towards her very own body. Her first terrifying thought was that she had been abducted and experimented upon. Again.

_No no no…wait! __Think Vala, THINK!_ But it was so hard to think..._ Where could you possibly be? What could you possibly be doing there? What is the last thing you remember? _But her mind was blunt. _C'mon! What do you remember? _Nothing. _NO! There's gotta be something! Something that would help her remember the rest, somehow magically reboot her memory.Ok, so; what DID she remember? _It was so hard to think though, nothing made sense. She was scared, lost and alone and couldn't remember a tyniest thing.

_But wait, there WAS something she remembered after all._ _That man…the face of that man; brownish hair, glasses…But who …? _Then it hit her._ Daniel! God, how could she have forgotten about Daniel? _All of a sudden, everything came down to her;_ Prometheus,…the Tauri,…SGC,…"her" team, …friends…_

_But where was she now?__ And why was she here? Why was she sick? Why took her so long to even remember who she was? And why was there so much beeping and so much white? But most important of all, where was everyone and why was it all so quiet in here?_

She suddenly felt anxious, her mental state becoming alert and frantic…she had to get out of here, no matter if sick or not. She tried to move, firstly her hands then her feet, but she realized she couldn't; _Was she strapped? _No, it wasn't like that, it was as if her body had suddenly transformed into lead. Only then did she realize that not only she couldn't move her limbs, but she also couldn't be sure that her limbs were even there at all.

_God, let this be __just a side effect of some narcotics!_

But nevertheles how hard she tried to stay calm and reasonable, the anxiety quickly expanded into a panic attack; she didn't know where she was, what had happened to her nor in whose hands she has been in or why she couldn't move. The panic attack caused the machines to beep more frequently and even louder, almost alarm like.

It was then that the unnoticed sleeping figure beside Vala's bed woke up alarmed by the loud beeping. She rose from her chair immediately and pressed a red button on the wall. Finally, her eyes rested on Vala's face and grew even bigger when she saw that Vala was awake.

Vala couldn't however see the person properly, since she was too weak to turn her already throbbing head. So when short blond hair and big blue eyes finally came into view, she at last recognized the person as her best and only female friend she ever had. It took a moment for her mind to process this information untill she started to relax again. It was Sam, SGC Sam, 'Victoria Secret' Sam, and Vala was never happier to see her.

Only then she noticed the woman in front of her was looking at her expectantly, softly calling her name, asking if she could hear her.

Vala wanted to respond, but found that her mouth was dry and her throat sore and swollen. However, before she could take the first dry and painful gulp as a prelude to normal conversation, there was a sudden buzz in the room. All at once, there were noises, voices and quick footsteps. The barrage of noises made her anxious again and she closed her eyes for a brief moment to suppress the renewed sickness in her stomach. When she opened them again, the blonde hair and blue eyes were gone. Instead, she saw a pair of chocolate ones, peeking inquiringly at her. She knew this face too, but this time, it was harder for her to name the person who was now calling her name.

"Vala? Vala can you hear me?"

"Vala it's me, Doctor Lam. Do you recognize me? Do you know where you are?"

_Of course! Carolyn Lam, the doctor at __the SGC! _Now she could really relax, she was on Earth after all; and that meant she was safe. The dark eyes flickered for a small moment between her and the remaining people in the room, but Vala could not see who they were.

"Vala, can you hear me? Do you know where you are?"

She finally noticed the somewhat troubled expression on Carolyn's face and just then realized that the doctor was waiting for her answer impatiently.

"S…G…C…" She said hoarsely and so quietly, that she wasn't sure she had actually said it. Then she saw a bright enthusiastic smile cross the doctor's face. Vala has never seen the doctor smiling like that.

"Ok, now follow my finger please." The Doctor moved her index finger right and left in front of Vala's face watching her reaction eagerly and was obviously very pleased with the possitive outcome.

"Great! Now, do you know who this is, Vala?" Asked Carolyn. She disappeared from Vala's view only to be replaced by Sam, who was giving her a nervous smile.

"…S…Sam…" She said heavily, the lump in her throat killing her.

"…dri-drink…" She was able to whisper before she gave a long dry cough. She had trouble breathing and talking was only making it worse. Nevertheless, she felt that her answers were important to the doctor.

Before she knew it, somebody had slipped a straw through her lips and she was finally able to take a sip of water. It was delicious and had a wonderful but sadly short-lived effect on her sore throat.

"What…?" But before she could voice her question, Carolyn had already started to explain.

"Shhh…you need to rest. You've had an accident and you've been lying in coma for a couple of days. Your injuries are serious, but treatable. Most importantly, you've injured your head and we are afraid about the neurological damage that may have been caused. So, please try to answer my questions the best you can, alright?"

Vala nodded tiredly in reply.

"What day comes after Sunday?"

"Mon…mon-day…"

"Ok. What is the name of the object doctor Jackson wears on his nose?"

"Dirty…glasses…"

Carolyn grinned.

"Sense for humor? That's wonderful! Ok, focus, this one's a hard one. What was the name of the Go'auld you were host to?" There was a moment of silence.

"Que…Que-seth?" Said Vala after a while a bit uneasy, her reply being more a question than a statement. Carolyn noticed the slight uncertainty in Vala's answer, as well as she noticed the confusion of consonants in the pronunciation, that's been also kind of troublesome. However, she didn't comment on either one, only scribbled something down on her clipboard.

"Excellent," said Carolyn at last, giving Vala a warm gracious smile but noticed Vala's attention fading, probably due to the urge to drift asleep again.

"Ok. Just a few more questions and then you can rest again, alright?"

Vala nodded again.

"Do you have any trouble breathing?"

Vala thought about the question for a moment. It was really hard to breathe, however, she had only experienced problems when talking. She didn't know what answer to give Carolyn, who instantly noticed her hesitation.

"I'm asking if you're experiencing anything that would indicate that you're not getting enough oxygen, or that you can't take a breath sometimes. But don't worry if your breathing is labored, it's expected due to your condition."

After a short consideration, Vala finally gave a silent: "No."

"That's great. Now please tell me if you feel this." Carolyn took out a small, thin, silver instrument and pulled the sheets covering Vala's legs aside. She grazed the object over her leg skin gently, watching Vala closely.

Vala could feel a slight tingling somewhere down her hips and although she didn't know exactly where, she could feel it nonetheless; she could feel her limbs again.

"Yes," whispered Vala happily, feeling already sleepy again.

"Ok, now here?" Carolyn grazed the skin on her forearm.

"Yeah," said Vala once more.

"Fine. That's really great Vala. You've made our day! Now get some rest. Oh, and final question. Are you in any pain?"

"Deah," said Vala, but her voice was very quiet and Carolyn wasn't sure if she understood correctly.

"Sorry?"

"Her head, I think she means her head." said Sam loudly from somewhere behind Carolyn and Vala nodded. There was a slight distress in Sam's voice though, something Carolyn noticed but decided to ask Sam about later.

"Oh, ok. We will try to do something about that," she said to Vala, who seemed to have fallen asleep already. But Carolyn was surprised when she heard Vala speak again.

"Sam?"

"Yes, I am right here," said Sam and quickly stepped forward into Vala's view.

"Guys?"

"They've been called and I'm sure they're on their way already."

"Pity," said Vala with a shade of a smile.

"Why?" Asked Sam, confused.

"Will…already…asleep…"

"Don't worry, there'll be plenty of time for them to annoy you later." She waved her hand. "Now get some rest. I'm glad you're fine, Vala."

"Sam?"

"Yes?" Asked Sam surprised. She thought Vala was already asleep.

"Say…hello…Daniel...plea-" But before she could finish, she had already dozed off. Sam smiled and added a small "I will," although she knew that Vala couldn't hear her anymore.

Sam hadn't felt this relieved in a very long time. She quietly walked out of the infirmary thinking about Vala's rather odd request to say hello to Daniel. She had always known there was something between the two of them. In fact, she suspected that it was precisely the unresolved tension between them that had brought Vala into the infirmary in the first place. She loved Daniel as she loved her own brother and ever since he lost his wife, she wished that the younger man would find happiness with someone. She knew right away that Vala was the perfect candidate. She was someone who could be both: lovable and irritating, stubborn and shapeable, solitary and devoted. And so was Daniel. Damn, the two of them had so much more in common than they had ever realized themselves. Not to mention how they complemented each other. And it drove her crazy that Daniel didn't, or most probably just _refused_ to see that Vala was perfect for him. Sam herself realized that a long time ago. So why didn't he? Well, he probably did. He was just being so damned stubborn because he was too afraid of being hurt again. She only wished Daniel would change his mind soon. She knew perfectly well how agonizing it was to deny love to oneself for too long. It took her almost 10 years to dare step forward. She smiled and only hoped her friends wouldn't take as long.

TBC


End file.
